Warm Days
by ThatFlyingEagle
Summary: An episode series based off the world after Depth of Betrayal! It will feature both Depth stories and classic HTTYD fluffyness! Rated T for language and adult themes, IF there is a more mature chapter, I will put a warning at the start! Requests always welcome! AstridXHiccup, RuffXFish, TuffXOC!
1. A New Face!

Hey Guys! For those of you coming here after reading the Depth of Betrayal, I'm happy to be writing for you again! As I said, I will try to keep this on a week to week update schedule, but please allow for a two day sway period each way. For those of you who don't want to read Depth first, let me know, I have a general synopsis of the story for your quick enjoyment, but please, these will be better if you read Depth yourself.

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"I'm not getting on that thing!" Tyr whined. Hiccup and the other teens rolled with laughter at the side of the dragon training arena. Astrid was pulling Tyr towards one of the riderless Nadders, and the silver eyed man was squirming like a child heading to school for the first time.

"Tyr, you have to learn how to ride a dragon!" Astrid chided him.

"I like my feet on the ground, thank you!" Tyr exclaimed, escaping her grasp and scrambling the other way. Astrid huffed and gave chase.

It had been almost six weeks since Tyr's brush with execution, and life couldn't be any better. Hiccup and Astrid had decided that with all the work that needed to be done, all the restocking of supplies and rebuilding, and building new buildings, they would hold off on their wedding until further notice. The rebuilding had gone well so far, and the shortage of money that his father was so worried about was completely taken care of. Tyr had hidden most of the Ardni fortune in Toothless Cove, and that money will more than pay for anything they might need, but so much will be left over that it will refill the village treasury.

It had been since decided, by the young dragon trainers, that Tyr needed to learn to ride a dragon. It would be easy as getting Gobber drunk during Snoggletog. They had not, however, foreseen that actually getting the man onto a dragon was like drinking Astrid's Yaknog. A horrible time.

After tackling Tyr once more, Astrid grabbed his longest braid of hair and pulled him back towards the Nadder, "You will get on this dragon's back this instant!"

Ruffnut leaned over and elbowed Hiccup, "Take a good look; that's going to be your children someday." She snickered. Hiccup snipped at her, but thought about her words. _Children._ Just the idea was a bit daunting, much less the actual experience of kids. A shiver went up his back as he turned his attention back to the scene in front of them.

Astrid had gotten Tyr to place a hand on the Nadders head and pet it lightly. The Nadder, for what it meant, wasn't doing too badly with it. A bit of discomfort at the new touch, but other than that not bad. Until Tuffnut got involved. He snuck up behind the dragon and, with a spear that he'd dug out the equipment box, poked the poor thing on the tail. It squawked its sudden disapproval and brought its tail spikes to bear, hurling them at a retreating Tyr. Astrid, knowing what to do because Azure had done this to her many times had rolled to the left, away from the tail which came around the right side of the dragon.

Hiccup shut his eyes as the spikes flew and imbedded themselves into one of the wooden half walls that lined the edge of the arena. Tuffnut was roaring with laughter, and Astrid was actually giggling as well. When he looked to the half wall at the other side, Hiccup couldn't help but laugh as well.

Laying face down in front of it, Tyr groaned out, "Do I have a spike in my butt?"

"Yes, Tyr." Hiccup called.

"Shit."

"Yes Tyr!" Astrid yelled, before doubling over in laughter at her own joke. Nevertheless, all the others, including Hiccup, laughed just as hard. The Keeper grumbled loudly before yanking the spike out with a grunt. It hadn't gone in deep, but deep enough to hurt like hell.

Tyr walked away grumbling about dragons and spikes and crazy friends. Tuffnut and Ruffnut motored off to pester him more about his huge butt. Astrid came over and sat down, graciously accepting the cup of water Hiccup offered her, "Nice job, nadder master." he sniggered.

"Watch it. He would have been fine if it wasn't for Tuffnut." she retorted.

"Guess you're right." Hiccup answered before standing up and stretching his legs. He looked at Astrid and oogled her beauty, how the sweat made her skin glitter and shine. He tried to make his voice as heavy and sexy as possible, "So...what are you doing later?"

Astrid gulped down the water, "Mom wants us over at sundown, and no dragons." she said simply. Hiccup stood aghast, his attempts at looking sexy falling by the wayside, "But we've been there every night this week!" he complained. Astrid gave him a passing peck on the cheek, "And we'll keep going there until mom is comfortable! Hiccup, shes still unsure of me moving out. I think she had this idea that we were gonna live out of my room for the rest of our lives."

"I know, I know..." he grumbled. He and Astrid had been so busy that their moments together, whether intimate or not, had been scarce and short. All his attempts to create more had been struck down by both friends and family.

After cooling off and cleaning up a bit, Hiccup waited for Astrid in their kitchen. As part of his thanks for Hiccups life saving speech, Tyr and Milaki had personally championed the building of a new home for he and Astrid. Marcais, along with the carpenter, acted as the overseers. The new house was built within two weeks.

It was a big house, with a large first floor and a second floor with four rooms. Included in the plans had been a massive back room, where both Toothless and Azure could relax comfortably by a fire, fully equipped with a swinging double door. The kitchen was okay sized, maybe a bit too cluttered at the current moment, but it would clean out. Astrid had yet to learn how to cook anything beyond a simple stew.

Their bedroom was small, compared to the rest of the house, but its size made it warm at night. A big bed completed it, along with separate drawers for both him and her. A smile came to his lips when he recalled that half of his drawers were filled with the overflow from hers.

"You ready yet?" He called up the stairs. "Just a minute!" was the reply. He sat back down, knowing full well that he wouldn't be going anywhere for another ten minutes. A knock on the door caught his attention. Opening it, he was surprised to find Ruffnut, panting like she'd been sprinting, "Hey...Hiccup. Astrid here?"

"If I said no, would you believe me?" He answered through bored, half lidded eyes. If Astrid and Ruff got into one of their ever important 'girl' talks, Hiccup would be eating dinner alone with Ingrid. Ruffnut shook her head, "She's upstairs." Hiccup sighed. Ruffnut thanked him and walked in, "Oh, by the way, the Elder asked me to tell you that she wants to have a chat." she called back down the stairs. "Tell Astrid I'll meet her at her moms house!" he called back.

Not waiting for an answer, he walked out into the chill of the evening. The sun was still up, giving him a little time before his mother-in-law would try to fry him in a skillet. Toothless bounded up to him and licked his face, "Eww! Toothless, no licking tonight bud. Astrid's mom will kill me if I show up smelling like a dragon." he said, patting the Night Fury's head. Toothless seemed to understand as he fell into step with his rider. Most families were inside at this point, and they few that were still outside would call their greetings out with warm smiles.

Arriving at the Elders, Hiccup found her staring at something in the snow. She called him over, and he quickened his step. "You wanted to see me?" He asked. She jumped and rapped his knees with her staff, "Don't sneak up on me like that, boy."

"B-but you called me over," he whined, rubbing his knee caps.

"So I did. Look at these tracks. Anything you've ever seen before?" She pointed to the snow bank that enclosed her fence. Hiccup thought it would just be a Terror playing in the snow and the old Elder getting worried. When his eyes fell on it, he forgot about the Terror. The track was like nothing he'd ever laid eyes on. He whipped out his sketchbook and began to draw. The footprint was light, but the outline was completely new. Four toes or talons, but they were long and thing, and split in such a way that it didn't even look natural.

"I'll have to study this for awhile, Elder Gothi, but I have to go now. Dinner." Hiccup said, bowing to the small woman. She nodded at him and went back inside.

He ran towards Ingrid's house with all haste. If Astrid got there first, he was in for a night on the couch. On his way, he ran into Tyr who was walking, with a noticeable limp due to his Nadder incident, while looking around as if he'd lost something. "Tyr? Lose something?" Hiccup said after watching him look for a moment.

Tyr flashed a look at him, then resumed whipping his head around, "Hi Hiccup, no I haven't lost anything, just taking a few minutes to observe...stuff. What are you doing?" Tyr gave him an awkward smile.

"Astrid wants me to go to her mothers for dinner, I said I'd meet her there. Uh...can I help you at all?"

Oh, I just saw her walking to Ingrids, you better hurry!" Tyr said animatedly. Hiccup jumped and rushed past, "Alright then, good luck!" he called back.

Arriving at the Hofferson lodge, he rapped on the door, hoping that Ingrid would answer and not her glaring daughter. The door opened, and a small boy leaped up and down in joy, "Uncle Hiccup!" Hodr yelled excitedly. Hiccup laughed and let the little boy escort him inside.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Opposed to what Tyr had said, Astrid had not beat him there. Ingrid was in the kitchen when he walked in, "Hi mom," he said, casually going to take a sip of mead from the jug that was on the counter. He sniffed it before his drink. "Mmmm, strawberry mead."

As he went to take a sip, a wooden spoon slapped onto his wrist, "Ow! Why is everybody smacking me today?" he complained. Ingrid Hofferson gave him a strict glare, "No touching the mead before dinner! I won't have you be too drunk to speak when the chief gets here."

Hiccup rubbed his wrist, "You do know that he's going to be your brother, right?" His earnest tongue earned him another warning smack, "He isn't yet, young man! How was your day?"

Dinner went much as it usually did. Astrid arrived a few minutes after he did, and Stoick arrived last. They had spiced pork, potatoes and strawberry mead, which Hiccup savored because he had been attacked viciously while trying to get some earlier. All throughout dinner though, all he could think about was the print. He wanted to just pass it off as something random, but it was too interesting to be random.

Walking back home, Hiccup insisted that they stop by the Elders again, so Astrid could see the print for herself. On the way there, they were surprised to find that there was another one, just like the first, but further down from the Elders hut. Every few feet, there were more, and more, and more, until they found where the footprints stopped: just outside their very own front door.

"Uh...Hiccup, I'm scared." Astrid quivered, clinging to him.

"I'm the one who's supposed to say that." He chattered. A sound behind them alerted them, and Hiccup swung around to find Tyr approaching them. "Evening!" He said cheerily. Astrid tried to swat him as he came near, "What are you doing out and about at this time?" she inquired. Hiccup saw again as Tyr looked around carefully, looking down at the prints, then looking around again.

"Tyr, what are you loo-" Astrid began, but Tyr shushed her. She was about to lose it when Tyr smiled, eying the front of their house.

"How long you been up there, eh?" he said to apparently nobody. Hiccup looked at the house, back to Tyr, back to the house. Had Tyr gone mad?

The soft sound of something landing on snow came from behind the house, and Hiccup ran around to look. Nothing was there except for darkness. He came back to find Tyr making small talk with Astrid like nothing was up. "How was dinner and all that? Mum doing alright?"

Astrid, on the other hand, was still concerned about whatever was making the prints, "Tyr, what was that? Why do you always get into some sort of trouble?"

He sighed, "Have either of you ever heard the phrase 'it takes a snake to find a snake'?"

Astrid nodded, "Yeah, my dad used to say it pretty often. He would always say 'you need a spy to find a spy' or something like that. What about it?"

Tyr began to trudge off into the darkness, "Well, lets just say that this old snake has found himself a snake."

Hiccup watched him go, concern growing in him. Tyr was acting funny, "Astrid, you're not...worried about him, are you? I mean, he won't do anything dangerous, right?" he stammered. She scoffed, "Tyr won't step on a dead bug, Hiccup. Lets go to bed, I'm tired."

He agreed, and decided on talking to Tyr in the morning.

The next day, Hiccup was pacing like a caged beast at the training arena. They hadn't seen or heard from Tyr since last night. Astrid had been telling him to calm down since they'd woken up. "Hiccup, he's fine! Don't worry about it!" she reiterated, standing and watching him pace.

Most of the teens were there, minus Fishlegs, who said he had something important to do in the forest. Weird, because Fishlegs didn't frequent the forest that much. Only when he was drunk. And he wasn't drunk.

"Dude, Tyr probably found himself some tail and took advantage, who cares." Ruffnut snickered before randomly punching her brother, "What was that for?" he asked fiercely.

"I dunno." she answered nonchalantly. He glared at her and looked about to pounce when yelling reached their ears. A boy probably about eleven years old, one of Fishlegs little brothers actually, was running towards them, arms flailing, "Mister Hiccup! Miss Astrid! Ruff and Tuff! Big brother said he wants to see you in the forest!"

"Whoa, Njord, relax. What does Fish want?" Astrid said to the young, panting boy. "He said that he has something crazy to show you guys and to come right away!" Hiccup shot a look at Astrid that asked 'what now?'

About fifteen minutes into the forest, the came onto Fishlegs, who was intently watching something. "Fish, whats happening?" Hiccup whispered, thinking that being quiet would somehow benefit them.

"Look, a that tree over there." Fish replied, not turning his head away. Scanning the tree line, Hiccup found the tree in question, with Tyr sitting in front of it. "What is he doing?" Astrid asked.

"He's been talking to that tree for an hour now. I was in here first to gather kindling for our fire when I found Tyr sitting like that." Fishlegs said, his eyes squinting, trying to find something that he obviously was not.

Hiccup stared hard. He couldn't find a single thing interesting about the tree, other than how it had some branches that hung pretty low to the ground. A small shove alerted him and he turned to see Astrid motioning for him to go investigate. "Why me?" He whispered frantically.

"Please?" Astrid asked quietly, sweetly, giving him the biggest, roundest, cutest eyes.

_Dammit_ he thought as he walked through the clearing. Astrid and he damn cuteness. It would be the death of him. As he approached, he heard Tyr acknowledge him, "Good morning! What brings you to the woods today?" Hiccup noticed that Tyr didn't stop staring at the tree.

"I should ask you the same thing, Tyr. What are you looking at?"

"I think, Hiccup, your question should be _who_ I'm looking at. And I think its a she." Tyr replied. Hiccup shot his eyes at the tree, looking up and down, but again he couldn't see anything. Tyr kept talking, "I think she was following you yesterday. Curious one. No idea what she is though." he said.

Hiccup retreated to the bushes, "He said he's looking at someone, or something, that was following me yesterday, and that he thinks its a she, and that he has no clue what she is."

Astrid's face betrayed nothing, but Fishlegs looked annoyed, "He's looking at something? Yeah, he's looking at a tree!"

"Hiccup, go back over there and smack him for me." Astrid said, the Thorston behind her snickering. Hiccup walked back over, not with the express intent of smacking Tyr, but convincing the man that he was, in fact, looking at nothing.

About halfway across the clearing, he stopped, his eyes plastered on the tree. It had_ moved_. Or the bark did. Tyr was now standing, and Hiccup heard the others inch out of the bushes towards him. They stood and bore witness as the thing that they thought was a dumb tree was actually living.  
The vine that had been snaking up the trunk wasn't a vine at all, but a tail. The low hanging branches were legs.

Tyr stood up and was face to face with the thing that had come _out _of the tree.

"Fish...are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Astrid asked slowly.

"I dunno...Hiccup, what are you seeing?"

Hiccup gulped down his excitement. He'd never seen one before, other than in the book of dragons.

"Changewing." He whispered.

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There we are! Tyr got speared in the bum, then finds a dragon! The nest update will come later today, a special treat for you readers! Read and review, and if you have any ideas you want me to consider, let me know!


	2. Dinner and a Show

Hey guys and gals! This was supposed to go up Saturday night, but my interwebs decided to go AWOL for two days -_- Well here is episode two of Warm Days!

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"Can you sit still?" Astrid complained, wishing that Hiccup would relax for a second. Ever since the discovery of the Changewing, it was all Hiccup could think about. He had even created plans for a saddle, and it had only been a couple days! They were outside the forge where she was cutting his hair with a sharpened knife, and he would not stop fidgeting.

She counted her lucky stars though. Hiccup wasn't nearly as bad as Fishlegs was. The man was literally shivering with excitement. Even though the dragon had run off as soon as they approached, Fish was still pumped. Tyr walked back to town with them, brushing off any apologies, saying that the '_Huempta hertoiajl_', meaning 'curious dragon' would be back by that night. Fishlegs had asked countless times to spend the next few days with him in hopes of studying the Changewing and elaborating on the Book of Dragons entry.

Explaining that they knew next to nothing about the Changewing to Tyr had ignited his interest a bit. In the weeks rebuilding the village, Tyr had worked from sunrise to sunset with barely time for food in between. He hadn't much pursued anything himself, so this new dragon gave him a bit of a hobby. For the time being.

"But Astrid! Think of what we could learn from it! Think of the possibilities!" Hiccup said, his head somewhere in the clouds, but maybe even over them. Astrid rolled her eyes as she finished cutting off the last stray lock. She put the knife down and picked up a basket, "Think of the possibilities of you sleeping on the floor if you don't go get me some groceries."

Grumbling, he took the basket and walked off. She set about cleaning the hair from the front of the forge and putting away the tools she used. Tonight was going to be a tough obstacle. Her training could never have prepared her for this task, and she was a fool to think otherwise. She was too ashamed to talk to her mother about it, and too scared to tell Hiccup, so she had decided to steel herself in preparation and do what she could. If only she had more time.

After she'd cleaned the forge, she locked it up and made her way home, stopping by at the bakery to talk to the baker. She left there feeling a bit more secure, but a long battle was still to be waged before this day was over. Hours spent with various trainers had prepared her some, but facing the beast will take more than simple training.

Walking up the path to her front door, she sighed. He's beaten her home after getting what she had left on a list in the basket, meaning that this was it. This was zero hour. This was the moment before the Red Death broke out of the mountain, before the Drakonicus attacked her. This was it. Creaking the door open and walking into her kitchen, Astrid found all the things she needed. Now, the great battle begins, and whether she wins or loses, it will forever seal her fate.

The cooking of dinner.

Now, this was no normal dinner. Normally she would just throw some meat or fish over the fire, slap it on a plate and they would eat happily. No, this time she wanted to try something new. She wanted to cook a, as Tyr had described it, _gourmet _dinner. Pork, but with a special sauce that she'd learned to make from Marcais. A soup, with extra thick stock and packed with vegetables and beef. A last course sugar tart with honey would finish the night. Now, to make it.

She started the oven fire and waited till it was roaring. Slapping a big piece if pork tenderloin down on the table, she deftly worked the meat with Tyr's longblade. It was so sharp that it made meat trimming an easy task. She took all the fat and tossed it into a jug, where it would stay until Hiccup could show her how to make it useable in a lantern. She put a pot filled with water on the stove top, fed by the same fire as the oven, and waited for the water to boil.

As it heated, she took out the vegetables that would go into the stock. Carrots, tomatoes, cabbage and onions. Laying them out, she drew big cleaver given to her by the vegetable stall owner and did exactly as she had shown her: Chopped away with reckless abandon. After a flurry of chopping, Astrid dumped the diced veggies into the boiling water and added pepper and salt.

Her mother usually timed the fire in the oven before she put anything inside to cook, but Astrid assumed that it was plenty ready. She peppered the pork and placed it on a pan, sliding it into the oven, just over the fire, listening satisfyingly to the crackling of the spice as it cooked. Turning her attention back to the stew. The vegetables were congealing nicely with the beef and, after adding some milk, the broth was thickening into a beautiful and delicious smelling stew.

A thump from upstairs signaled that Hiccup had smelled the food, so she speedily set some cutlery on the table along with a glass mug and a large jug of Hiccup's favorite drink: strawberry mead. He says it reminds him of her because _she_ tastes like strawberries. Not sure how it came to that, but she ran with it.

"What smells good in here?" he said, hitting the last step. She ladled soup into a bowl and set it down for him before getting herself some, "Dinner, made special tonight!" She said excitedly.

"Looks good. Where did you learn the recipe?" He asked, sitting down. His hand instinctively reached for the mead and he filled his mug along with hers. She was more partial to straight mead, but strawberry was alright. As long as she couldn't feel her fingers after ten mugs, she was good.

"Its a secret. Dig in!"

He tenderly took a spoon and dunked it into the stew. Astrid was nervous; if her yaknog proved anything, it was that her culinary skills left much to be desired. She watched his face for a reaction. Would he like it? Would he love it? Would he throw it up like everyone did her yaknog?

"This is amazing! Astrid, when did you learn to cook!?" He exclaimed, spooning more of the stew down his gullet. Letting the question slide, she grinned wide, over the moon that he enjoyed it. Sitting down, she dug in. It really was delicious, and even though she shouldn't, she silently congratulated herself on a good nights work.

He filled his bowl twice before she finished her first. After he finished the last bowl, he got up and brought it to the water bucket. She was on her last spoonfuls when Hiccup's warm lips met her neck. The light kiss sent tingles down her body, and her first thought was _I hope mom doesn't come home!_.

Then she remembered that her and Hiccup lived alone now.

The kisses continued lightly and ran from the base of her neck to just beneath her ear, Hiccup tossing in little licks here and there. Where did he learn how to do that? Fighting his lips to stand up, she turned and felt him hook his hands under her thighs and lift her onto the table, him settling in between her legs. They kissed deeply, passionately, like a couple who hadn't seen each other for weeks. This is what it would feel like when he was chief and needed to embark on trading or diplomacy missions to other islands.

They kept their lips locked in a deathly embrace until he drew back, gasping for air. She didn't waste a moment, taking his momentary break to plunge her mouth to his neck, where she sucked like a baby on her mothers breast, biting him every few moments to maximize the pleasure. He enjoyed being bitten. Maybe it was because of Toothless.

When he had regained his breath, she hungrily attacked his lips once more. His hands found the ties that kept her skirt around her hips and undid them as deftly as he could. She stood up and the skirt fell down her slender hips and legs to gather on the floor before Hiccup picked her up again and brought her through to the living room. There, he sat down on the couch with her in his lap before claiming her lips once more.

It had been far too long since the last time they got intimate. They hadn't been together like this since before the Ardni came. That was much too long. She feverishly slid her hands under his shirt, sliding her hands along the banks of muscle that now lined Hiccups chest. The muscles weren't obnoxious, but they were evident enough to be sexy. Lifting the shirt over his head, she began to kiss down his neck and onto his chest, savoring his very unique taste.

His hands lifting her own shirt off and quickly unclasped her breast strap, letting it fall off. He pushed her away and began to suckle on her breasts lightly, making her moan and twitch as he threw his teeth in every moment or two.

They resumed their deep kissing, the tongues battling for favorable position when Hiccup stopped, "Hey..babe...what's that smell?" he moaned lustily, fully intent on a wonderful evening. Astrid didn't give much thought to his question initially, and brought his lips to hers once more.

A minute later, her eyes shot open and she jumped off Hiccup, knocking over a large vase they had bought from a trader and making a loud crash. Sprinting half naked into the kitchen, she threw open the door to the oven, where her wonderful pork dinner was crackling and burning like firewood. Hiccup yelped and ran out the back door to a water barrel they had out there and filled a bucket, bringing it back in and throwing it onto the burning meal. Astrid opened all the doors and windows and get the smoke out of the house, and the whole thing was a debacle. A complete mess.

As they rushed around the kitchen, trying to get control of things, a loud gasp interrupted them. Both turned, naked chested and all, to their front door where Snotlout and his father Spitelout stood, mouths hanging.

"We, uh...we heard a crash, and, uh, came to see if you needed help." Spitelout stuttered, averting his eyes from Astrid. Snotlout however, was mesmerized. He stared at Astrid's breasts like a dumbstruck child, "...Whoa..." he said slowly.

Astrid covered herself furiously and Spitelout took immediate action, grabbing Snotlout and pulling him out the door roughly, "Alright, we're not needed here. Good night!"

Astrid retreated to the living room and cried. Her perfectly planned night had been ruined. She'd committed the worst sin; forgotten some food in the oven. She had run around the house in just her leggings, her neighbors had come to see if they needed help and been greeted with a rambunctious couple running around in their undies. Stories of this could spread like wildfire.

Her tears ran heavy down her face. She felt Hiccup put a hand on her back, rubbing it ever so slightly as he sat down next to her. He hooked it around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest, a warm, comforting chest. She listened to the melodious beats of his heart, like being at the forge and listening to the well timed strikes on molten metal. He was a blacksmith in every way.

"Hey, don't worry. It was my fault." He said softly into her hair. She punched him weakly on the chest, "No it's not. I'm the one who put it in to cook and forgot." She grumbled.

"I'm the one who started the kissing." He whispered lustily, kissing her hair. Her eyes brightened. So her dinner didn't go as planned, but maybe, just maybe, the rest of her night would. She covered his mouth with one finger, "Not here. Come on. Lock the doors on the way." She said, giving him a quick peck before getting up and running upstairs. A few minutes later, Hiccup, having undressed, slid under the furs of their bed. They were about to start when Hiccup began sniffing the air again, "Now what's that smell?"

Astrid sniffed the air. The sugar tart!

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Astrid has some issues with cooking :P Anyhoow, please Read and review and leave ideas! Thanks


	3. Spectra

Hey there readers! This is episode 3 of Warm Days! Thanks to Megadracosaurus for helping out with the selection here, he/she really did help alot! I know that its Valentines days and all that, but i haven't had time to do a special valentines day chapter, so in lieu of that: Happy Valentines Day!

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A chill breeze blew in off the ocean in the early hours of the morning. The sails of the tattered ship wavered as the holes dotting the fabric allowed the wind to escape. Hiccup stood watch as several men helped get the sailors off the ship, many of which were fine, but a few had come down with a sickness that the Ingerman's had named scurvy. The Elder demanded that those effected by it must be brought to her immediately and that those who were just weary be fed in Meade Hall.

It was still dark, so the only light they had to work with came from torches around the docks. Despite that, work had gone quickly, and soon enough Hiccup was walking into Meade Hall with his father, Gobber and Spitelout, "Where did they come in from, Hiccup?" Spitelout asked.

"From an island to the south called Jumenjorg. Pretty far off, I might add. They were headed for Nalskkagr, but a storm blew them off course and wrecked their vessel." Hiccup answered.

"Why were they headed for Nalskkagr I wonder? That thing is no trading ship." Gobber thought aloud. Hiccup had been wondering the same thing. Usually, only traders come and go from the large port city this time of year. So why were a group of diplomats trying to get there? With a large chest of gold, no less.

"We'll have to find out, but for now, they need food and rest. We should probably keep them on watch just in case. We all know what happened the last time a storm blew guests to our shores." Stoick said, with a poignant look at his son. Hiccup huffed. His dad was talking about Tyr and the whole Ardni fiasco.

"I'll stay, dad. It's really no problem." Hiccup said, trying to puff his chest out and look manly beyond his stature. Gobber laughed and poked Hiccup hard in the belly, deflating his puffed up chest with a _whoosh_, "You'd find more muscle on a salmon."

Hiccup stuck his nose up at his mentor and grunted before grinning, "At least I'm not on the menu every night."

"No Hiccup. You have other responsibilities to the people, we'll find someone else to watch them." Spitelout said, rubbing the stubble on his chin in thought.

XXX

"Why the hell do we have to do this?" Tuffnut whined. He, Ruffnut, and Snotlout had been tasked with watching the sailors who were fast asleep in a chamber just off Meade Hall's main room. They had chosen instead to sit at one of the long tables in the Hall and wait for morning. "This is stupid. I was busy bathing Astrid in my dream when dad woke me u-"

"Snot, shut up about her. She's gone. Period. A few more weeks and she'll be married. Start looking elsewhere." Ruffnut groaned. Tuffnut laughed at Snotlout's hurt expression. Snot had been obsessed with Astrid ever since it became evident that she was the hottest chick around.

"No guys! I still have a shot! She got half naked for me the other day and we were going to get frisky but had to bail when Hiccup came home! I slipped out the back and that poor sap never knew a thing."

"Is that what happened?" Tyr said, walking in and grabbing a mug of mead from the counter. Ruffnut yelped when he put his hand on her thigh and shoved her over a spot, then sat down next to her, "Hey!"

He grinned at her and turned his attention back to Snotlout, "I wonder if she'll second your story,"

Snot gave him a cocky grin, "What makes you think she'll tell _you_ how perfect I am?" Ruffnut scoffed, and he brother followed suit, "Lets see. Astrid and Tyr have both killed each other in a way, only to be saved by some fancy crystal shit. I think they're pretty close, idiot." Ruffnut shot at Snotlout's slowly deflating form.

"Well, not that Ruffnut. I saw Snotlout and his dad walking away briskly from Astrid's a few nights ago, and he had this vacant, amazed look on his face." Tyr said into his mug.

_God, how cool would it be to be Tyr for a day?_ Tuffnut thought. While he liked his life, minus his sister, Tuffnut wished that he could be cool and heroic and really good at fighting. All the things that Tyr was. Hiccup wasn't much for the cool spectrum, nor the really good at fighting one either, but Hiccup had the brains to overcome that. Brains had won that kid Astrid. Damn being stupid.

"Tyr, why are you here?" he asked, decided to stop the Astrid conversation for a minute. Tyr gulped down more mead before wiping his mouth, "Hiccup caught me on his way home, asked me to come here and give you guys a hand. Seems he thought you'd fall asleep."

"Sonuvabitch! We are trained guards, we'd never fall asleep!" Tuffnut declared.

XXX

An hour later, Tyr was the only one still awake. Snotlout had fallen asleep on the floor while Ruff and Tuff had cuddled up together on the table. Initially, Tyr thought it was creepy that brother and sister would do that, but he figured that because they were twins it was normal.

Tyr himself sat against the edge of the cooking spit, sipping mead diluted with water. He enjoyed the taste of the mead, but right now he didn't think it wise to drink it straight.

The door to the hall eased open slightly, then closed once more, with no vikings coming through. Tyr smiled; it had been longer than he thought, but the _hertoiajl, _dragon_,_ had returned.

He listened carefully to try and guess at its location in the Hall. Snotlout snored almost as bad as a wailing walrus, so at times it got hard to listen at all. A clatter about thirty feet to his right brought his attention to bear.

"Why hello there." he said. The Changewing's scales returned to their base brown color and the dragon eyed him curiously. The was actually the first time Tyr had been able to study it in any depth at all. The wings were wide and spiny, looking like perfect triangles where they connected to the dragon's body, which was...big. Bigger than he had read about.

Fishlegs, in the boy's almost overbearing excitement, had demanded that Tyr read this thingy called the Book of Dragons and thrust a large tome into his hands. Finding the Changewing part, he had read that these were small creatures, well suited to hiding in the forest. The book puts their size at around ten to fifteen feet long from snout to tail, accounting for a significantly long tail. Seeing the dragon now with no camouflage though, it was a good twenty five feet long snout to tail. That would put it a teeny bit larger than Toothless around the belly, but definitely longer on account of the tail. All down its back were what looked like spines, but they drooped over like leaves. Two long antennae stretched from the top of its head...making it look like a weed.

"So, admitted defeat yet? You haven't caught me once." he mused, taking another swig from the mug. He had discerned that it was playing a game of hide and seek with him, and he'd caught on every time. A growl emanated from the dragon's belly as it inched towards him, eyes wide. He looked at it, straight in the eye, for the first time since he'd discovered its presence in the village. The eyes were big and round, white with a blue pupil that was flicking around, signaling that the dragon was investigating his every feature as well.

"Come on, boy. I won't hu-"

He was interrupted by the dragon hissing at him. He noticed that the previously floppy back spines were now rigid. So cute. It was angry with him.

"Girl?" He ventured. The spines flopped back over and the eyes got big and round again. So it was a female. Before he had just taken a 50/50 guess and came up with a girl, but he had not known for sure.

"Alright then girl, come here and lets see if I can find you a snack." He said before getting up and walking over to the food chamber. Just off the main Hall was a big locker that held all sorts of things ranging from mead barrels to sheep haunches. Straining a bit, he lifted a pretty big boar leg off a hook and carried it back into the Hall. The Changewing was gone, but after a moments observation, it hadn't moved that much, just camouflaged itself near where he was sitting before.

He walked up to it and dropped the boar leg, "Eat up."

Nothing happened, but when he turned his back to find his mug and seat, he heard scrunching and ripping. With a sigh he lowered himself back down and leaned on the spit, but yelped when he found the Changewing laying down right next to him. Looking over at the boar leg, he found a polished bone.

"Well, well. Hungry, were we?" he laughed. He received what he thought might be a reptilian smile, but he couldn't tell. The dragon sniffed around him, but drew particular interest in his silk headband. The deep purple obviously intrigued her. "You like my headband? I love it. Purple is my favorite color and..."

He stopped as the dragon's scales shimmered, then turned purple. The exact same purple as his headband. She cocked her head and looked at him with big eyes, as if searching for confirmation or affection or...something.

"Well, er...nice color?" He said slowly, not sure how to proceed. The Changewing hummed and nudged him. She kept nudging him until he stood up, then she walked around and lay against the spit.

"You...you took my spot!" he exclaimed. A chuckle escaped her and she nodded her head to the ground in front of her. Tyr decided to take a chance and sat down, slowly leaning his back against her rising belly. The dragon hummed and didn't react as his body eased down onto her.

"Holy shit..." he mused. Her scales were soft like a pillow. They weren't like Nightmare or Nadder scales, but more like she had a sheet of cotton or wool on her. Lifting his mug to his lips, he spilled some of the mead on the stone floor. The Changewing immediately turned the same golden yellow as the liquid. "What will we call you, eh? You change color like a chameleon, so what if we called you Coloria?"

The dragon growled and huffed. A pretty clear no. He drove into his thoughts, looking for something to do with color. "Rainbow? Paintbrush? Easel? The damn colorful lizard?" he rattled off. The Changewing turned a hue of red and growled at him, and the scales he lay against got hard. So, a sign of anger. Wonderful.

His imagination is not what it used to be. He used to be able to rattle of nice names like water over a fall, but no longer. The Keepers had learned hot to split light through the many crystals that came out of Mount Houder and called the colors _chromes_. She was a dragon that could adopt quite a few colors, like white, green, brown, black, purple, so she was a collection.

"Why don't we call you Chromeria? Like a collection of colors?" He tried. The dragon looked like she was considering the name, but didn't overly react to it. "You're almost as bad as a Nadder, you know that?" He joked, nudging the dragon's belly. She puffed at him in response, although he could feel a slight shudder, a tell tale sign of suppressed laughter. Maybe dragons understood each other enough to understand jokes about other dragons.

Well crap. That was almost all he could think of. Colors were called chromes, so he thought Chromeria might work. All the colors together were called the spectrum of light. Wait...

"Spectra! We'll call you Spectra!" he exclaimed. She turned a bright shade of green and nudged his face with her own. A name had been found, and Tyr reasoned that he no longer needed the Nadder that had lovingly put a spike in his ass. He had his own dragon now. Maybe.

Tyr Pretor and Spectra the Changewing. He liked the sound of that.

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Please Read and Review, and ideas/requests always welcome!


	4. Love is a Lesson

Episode 4 of warm days! Just a sidenote here, at this moment in time I am also starting a story on Bleach, so I will be writing that as well ass this. I doubt it'll hurt my updates, but its possible. And my midterms are coming up. Gods help me.

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Returning from the woods, Hiccup had a good feeling about the day. He had gone out extremely early that morning to set up the cove for his day. He was quick in his step as he rushed home.

"Hey, Hiccup!" A light voice called. He stirred from his thoughts to see Gemeye running up to him, "Hey there, I just have a quick question." She said quickly.

"What's up?"

"Do you know,er...what, um...Tuffnut does in his spare time?" She asked. Hiccup grinned inwardly. Her cheeks and ears began to get red when she mentioned his name. "Well, I know that he and Ruffnut are usually wrestling, feeding Barf and Belch, wrestling, eating, wrestling or wrestling." He said with a laugh, "So find Ruffnut, and you find Tuffnut."

"Thanks Hiccup!" She replied before sprinting off. Well that was weird, if not suspicious. Hiccup knew that Gemeye and Tuffnut had, as his father says it "done the deed" several times out of wedlock. Maybe she wanted to solidify things.

Walking briskly now, mostly because he didn't want to get held up again, Hiccup headed for home. Astrid was still sleeping when he left, and he figured she might still be there. Opening the door, he found the house spotlessly clean, with everything neatly organized and ordered. That wasn't a good sign. Whenever Astrid cleaned so pointedly, it meant she was mad. He had managed to do something to piss her off. This was great. This was going amazingly well. He needed to go to the Hoffersons.

Running over to the Hofferson house, he found Hodr playing outside with some of his friends, "Hey Hodr! Is Astrid here?" he asked nicely. The little boy shook his head, "No, but I saw her earlier with the new old man!" he giggled.

The new old man? Hodr must mean Marcais, if anyone was both new and old, it was Marcais. Excellent. His plan was working perfectly, now he needed to sell it to Astrid's curiosity. And jealousy.

XXX

Astrid walked silently behind Marcais as he strolled back home. She had been angry all morning at Hiccup. She'd been angry for days, actually, but she'd been playing it down. Now she felt the need to talk to someone, and had found an unexpected listener in Marcais. The old man had offered her some tea and invited her to his home to discuss what she was worried about. It was late afternoon when they arrived at his cottage.

They got inside and sat down at the small table while he boiled some water over a fire, "What's going on, child?" he said softly, his voice like smooth water. Comforting and understanding.

"It's Hiccup. I feel like he's taking me for granted." she mumbled. Hiccup had recently been paying little attention to her, and had even gotten snippy with her when she wasn't home when she was. To her surprise, Marcais managed an old chuckle and smile, "He's ignoring you? Child, I do doubt that, very much."

"But Marcais! He's doesn't really even do the things I ask him to do! He doesn't respect that I want to do things too, he doesn't listen to me when I want to talk to him about something, he leaves while I'm still sleeping, gets home after I've gone to sleep and never tells me where he's been! When he does talk to me, he talks about that girl Gemeye all the time, and someone even told me that they saw the two of them coming out of our _own_ house all sweaty and half undressed!"

"Astrid! My girl, calm down!" Marcais said over her. She flopped back down into the chair, finding that she had stood up during her rant. Marcais tested the pot before pouring her a steaming cup of tea.

He sat down and sipped his tea for a few minutes, in silence. After, he placed the cup on the table and intertwined his hands, "Astrid, have you ever spoken to Gutrot, or his wife?"

Gutrot Thorston. The patriarch of the Thorston clan and one of the oldest people on the island. His wife, Molda, was just as old as he was. "No."

"Do you know how long he and his wife have been married?"

"No."

"_Seventy-five_ winters, Astrid. _Seventy-five_. They have been married almost two decades longer than I have walked this earth, and they call me old." He said, his eyes fixed on her own. She listened and was surprised at the number, but it didn't help her at all. "What does that have to do with Hiccup ignoring me?"

"Have you ever heard of a land called France, Astrid?"

"Yeah, about a two month journey south." She answered. She had always wanted to go, hearing of the magnificent fields and gardens and beautiful coastline there. Marcais sipped his tea once more, "I was born there, in a small village that doesn't exist anymore. When I went to my father with issues much like yours, he used to tell me_ 'L'amour est une leçon sans fin'_. Do you know what it means?"

She shook her head. "It means 'love is a never ending lesson'. Do you see now why I asked you about Gutrot and Molda?"

She shook her head again. Marcais was being to cryptic, talking in riddles. She wasn't of a mood to deal with that, "Can't you just tell me what to do?"

Marcais stayed ever patient, "I just did, child. Being in love with someone is a constant lesson. You will learn, every day, how to deal with your chosen. Gutrot hates some of the things Molda does, but he has learned to overlook them because he loves her. Do you know why he is called Gutrot?"

She shook her head again. Doing a lot of that lately. "When he was younger, and still to this day, his gas smells like his stomach is rotting. The smell was overpowering, but somehow, Molda learned to deal with it because she loves him. No doubt, child, Hiccup is probably going through the same insecurities you are. You must both learn to live with one another, or you might as well call off your marriage now. He will learn how to make you feel loved. You need to give him time. At the same time, you must understand that there will be things for you to learn as well."

Now that he said all that, his previous riddles and questions made complete sense. She was still frustrated, and she gulped down her tea, form which she hadn't even taken a sip. Marcais shifted his head and looked past her, "Speaking of Hiccup, there he goes." Marcais said. Astrid whipped around and through the window saw Hiccup walking into the market. He was carrying flowers. Who was he giving flowers to? As well as the flowers, a blueish looking chain hung from one of his arms. Who was he giving these things to? Her curiosity got the better of her, and she excused herself from Marcais presence with a thank you. On her way out, she didn't see Marcais smirk and give a thumbs up to somebody at the back window.

Snaking through the crowd, she kept a lingering watch on him as he walked. He wasn't acting funny or anything that was out of the ordinary. He was just strolling through the market. With flowers and a chain. She followed him until he stopped near the outer edge of the crowds, where he looked around as if waiting for someone. She was going to confront him when somebody called his name and Gemeye ran up.

_Gemeye!?_ She thought furiously. If he was cheating on her, at least do it with somebody else! He gave her the flowers and the chain, exchanged a few words and received a kiss on the cheek from the girl, who proceeded to scamper off.

She was boiling. She couldn't have guessed that Hiccup had the _balls_ to cheat on her, much less the ability. Gemeye must be pitiful for him and his goddamn fake foot. He ran into the woods and she sprinted after him, fully intent on shoving the ring he made her so far down his throat that he'd shit it out. He was just jogging, so she decided to make him jump a little, "Hiccup!" She screamed. He obviously heard her because he accelerated to a full sprint, which actually was far faster than she had expected.

She chased him through the woods like a crazed bear, growling and yelling at his back. He ran all the way to Toothless Cove, and once he dropped down into there she knew she had him. She decided to circle around behind, catch him by surprise, then beat him senseless. Weaving through the trees, she dropped down into the cove, "Alright you cheating bastard, lets teach you a less-"

She stopped abruptly when she turned to face the cove. By the opposite wall, exactly where he had dropped down, sat Hiccup. He was surrounded by countless roses, violets, and other exotic flowers, mainly blue orchids. He sat on a bed that had been carved from a tree, complete with a mattress and a whole flurry of pillows. The leaves of the canopy provided an umbrella to the sun, only allowing small flecks of light to dot the bed. Set in a semi circle around the tree and small garden were ten long wooden stakes with black tips that were adorned with strings of flowers.

Most surprising was Hiccup himself. He was shirtless, only wearing his trousers and even those hung loosely around his waist. Around his neck he wore the blue chain that he'd given to Gemeye, and hanging from that chain was a square of steel with something carved into it. His chest was slim and chiseled, and his stringy arms were now padded with the subtle signs of emerging muscle. His face was set into a thin smile, his hair was clean, albeit still the unkempt mess that she had fallen in love with. On his chin was an emerging layer of stubble, giving him a rugged bad boy type of look that drove her loins wild.

In his left hand, he held a large glass bottle, and in his right he held two mugs. She stepped forward cautiously, unbelieving of the sight in front of her. Hiccup watched her step forward with a glint in his eye that she wondered about with each step. Coming to a stop a mere foot away from him, she stared into his eyes, "What is all this?" She asked in awe.

"With all the village business, we haven't had much time to ourselves recently. Not even time to enjoy each others company. So I told dad that we'd be gone for awhile, and we'd be back when we are ready." He said, tenderly taking her hand. She didn't resist him and felt herself be pulled into his chest. She was still looking at the beauty of the garden and the late afternoon sun shining off the lake like a child looks at a Snoggletog gift; wide eyed and amazed. About a hundred yards away, set against the wall to the right of her and Hiccup stood a small cottage, built into the rock.

"Hiccup...how did you do this? You built a house out here?" She asked.

"I had help."

"From who?" she replied, looking into his eyes.

"Just about everybody except you. I couldn't have carved this bed, nor grown these flowers. I can't measure and construct a small house. The entire village helped out over the last three weeks. Think of it as the birthday present you never got this year." He said. She looked down at the ledge where he had placed the mugs and bottle, "What's that?"

"A gift from someone. Said that we would love it, but only if we drank it together." Hiccup said before pouring a small amount into each of the mugs. "Why so little?" Astrid asked as she looked at the bubbly, clear drink.

"Not sure, it's what I was told to do."

"Did Tyr give you this?" she asked. If Tyr did, then it was hard alcohol. Hiccup shook his head, "Actually, no. Tyr didn't have anything to do with this stuff. He did play an important part though."

"And what was that?" Astrid raised an eyebrow, interested to hear what Tyr did.

Hiccup smacked a quick peck on her lips, "He taught me how to make it look like I was screwing Gemeye on the side."

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Of course Tyr would be the one to show Hiccup how to be a trickster. "I'll be sure to tell him that you threw him under the ship after I finish beating him like a sack of potatoes." She said as she lifted the mug to her lips and took a swig of the drink. It was smooth, but a little sour at the same time. She coughed and wiped her watering eyes, "Who gave you this?"

"Actually, Marcais did. What did he call it...like Zinfa...Zande...Zinfandel! That's what he called it. Some sort of wine. Is it any good?"

She looked at him incredulously, "You let your girlfriend try the strange drink first then ask how it is? Some gentleman you are." she sneered. He laughed at her, "Actually, I let my fianceé try the strange drink first, then asked what it tasted like."

She scowled at him before resting her head against his warm chest, "I miss you, Hiccup. We used to do this sort of thing all the time, and now it takes weeks of planning to pull it off, and I wasn't even involved. Is this how the rest of our lives are going to be?" She asked before taking another swig of the wine.

He hummed into her hair, planting tiny kisses as he thought, "No. I refuse to let it be that way. I'll do anything for you. Anything."

She thought for a second before grinning, "Would you give the chiefdom to Snotlout?" She laughed.

Hiccup drew her back and stared in her eyes, "If I have to, I'll do it." His voice didn't sound humorous or funny. He was serious. She smiled and tried to hold back tears of joy. Hiccup was in this for the long haul and she could tell. Marcais was right; if Gutrot and Molda could be together for seventy five years, she and Hiccup could be together for eighty. They just had to make it work and learn from each other.

Downing the rest of her wine, Astrid took Hiccups mug from his hands and, at his loud protest, poured all his wine into her mouth. He pouted and was going to ask why she did it, but she silenced him by pulling their lips together.

He accepted the kiss without hesitation, and Astrid licked his lips between hers, seeking entrance into his mouth. When he opened it, she gave him all of the wine that she had stolen from him. She hadn't drank it.

He spluttered and coughed, but regained his composure quickly and brought their lips together once more. She kissed him passionately, deeply, his lips feeling like the softest velvet. Dropping the mugs on the ground, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself impossibly closer to him. His hands snaked around her waist and stroked her back.

She waited patiently for him to start the clothing removal. He was damn near naked already, but she hated taking off her own clothes. It was much more of a turn on for her if he did it. She didn't have to wait long as she felt his fingers fall to the clasps of her plated skirt. He quickly undid each clasp from her back to right below her belly button. The skirt fell away, leaving her standing there in just her leggings and shirt. Before long, Hiccup slid his hand underneath her shirt, and she gave a small whimper; his hands were really cold. As he began to slide her shirt up, something cracked behind them, followed by a loud screaming and a thump.

"Oh, you're fucking kidding me..." she grated out into Hiccups lips. Interrupted, all the way out in the woods. She had the worst damn luck. Luckily though, Hiccup hadn't completely removed her shirt, so she was still safe.

Turning around as she was turning purple, Astrid's furious eyes fell on the pile across the cove. Judging from the tangling of limbs and some other things that she saw, there were five people. Looking up, she saw how they'd fallen. A thick branch about thirty feet up that hung over the side of the cove was snapped off. Her eyes returning to the pile, she saw that the culprits had untangled themselves. There, laying and groaning were Gemeye, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Snotlout and Tyr.

Tyr groaned, "Snotlout, you're a lot heavier than you look."

"Shut up! It's all this rippling muscle!" Snotlout retorted.

Astrid decided that enough is enough, "Who put you guys up to this? Who suggested that you hang out and watch?"

The answer was unanimous as four fingers pointed at Tyr. He looked around, amazed apparently that he'd been sold out so easily. He looked at Astrid and saw the icy look in her eyes, "Now...Now Astrid, I just wanted to see how Hiccup pulled it off Ok? Don't overreact now...lets not be hasty..." he stuttered.

"Tyr, I'm going to let you go now, but just know; when I get my hands on you, I will beat you until that Changewing of yours has to drag you around on a cart!"

She needn't explain herself as Tyr rocketed off into the woods faster than a Terrible Terror after a fish. The others followed his example like a shot, scampering off just as fast. Astrid stood there fuming. Her and Hiccup _always_ get interrupted by something dumb! Pissed her off even more that it was Tyr's idea! That man! God, if she was a meaner person...

Hiccup' soft lips met her nack, and his hands snaked through to intertwine with hers, "Hey. They're gone, beautiful. Lets get back to falling in love again." he murmured, his voice thick with lust. She was far too happy to comply, and her clothes were off and they were in bed before ten more minutes passed.

XXX

"We pulled that off with style!" Ruffnut laughed as the group walked back to the village. A scoff came from beside her, "Yeah, well you don't have a death sentence waiting for you. How could you guys throw me like that? It was Hiccups idea!" Tyr grumbled.

"It seemed like more fun this way. We figured that Astrid would enjoy breaking someones bones eventually. Yours seemed like a good candidate." Tuffnut laughed.

"You know Tuff, I think I got some fabric here to wipe your mouth with, there's still some shit on it." Tyr growled back. The others laughed and carried on bantering.

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I hope you guys like it! Read and review! Suggestions and requests always welcome! BTW, I am looking for someone to help me with something delicate that I cannot write very well. I looking for someone who can write smut pretty well, because I am thinking about putting a smut chapter in for a nice read


	5. The Flaming Witch Act I

**Well alrighty then! I understand if any of my readers are angry that it took me so damn long to update, I'm also mad at myself. My creative drive for HTTYD kinda fizzled into a Bleach one instead for awhile, but I'm back! This is a chapter that was in my original plans, and will be expanded on in a series with I believe 3 acts. Regardless, Enjoy!**

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Tyr sat next to the fire pit, enjoying the crackling of cooking fish and the smooth breeze of the evening. He was sitting on the edge of the forest at a beach where he had caught his dinner. Spectra lay behind him dozing contently, her verdant purple scales blending with the night.

Ever since deciding that it was Tyr's favorite color, it had become her standard color, and she rarely deviated from it. Tyr scratched her scales absently, thinking about what he needs to do for the next few days.

His rise back to acceptance had begun slowly in the village. The people still didn't really trust him with anything beyond menial tasks. His foremost projects were the rebuilding of one of the dock piers and the rehanging of a giant door to one of the dragon barns.

"Quiet night for you, huh?" Kia said as she materialized from the woods. Tyr cast her a long glance, "Mom still mad at me?"

"You don't know the half of it. Yipyip has her in a rage about Astrid." Kia said, a frown falling to her face. Tyr swore quietly. He had indeed reconciled with his ancestors, but his reckless and unknowing addition to the Pretor family tree had thrown the more traditional of those ancestors in swirling pits of anger.

His uncle, most of all, had been infuriated that Astrid was now a Pretor. Or half of one. The biggest issue was that Astrid herself wasn't even aware of her new bloodline.

"How long do you think she'll stay mad?" He asked quietly. Kia considered the question, "Maybe a week, maybe a decade, you never know with her. Where's Astrid now?"

"Why don't you go find her? You can talk to her at any time now that she bears crystals." Tyr replied, picking one of his skewers off the fire and testing the fish before replacing it. More cooking required.

"Is she with Hiccup?" He nodded and she went quiet, staring into the flickering flames. He knew that she couldn't, wouldn't, speak to Astrid while Hiccup was around. Didn't do well for a man to think that his lover was crazy because she was talking to thin air.

"I saw that some sailors landed here a couple nights ago. Any word about what they want?" she asked. She had been active in keeping herself and the other spirits informed about the day to day life of their last living relative.

"Something about a demon attacking their island. Flaming witch or something like that."

"Do you think they have ever seen a flaming witch?" she giggled.

Tyr chuckled, "No, I don't think they have."

Flaming witches were beings of pure evil that Tyr had fought several times. While he was Soram's personal assassin and bodyguard, he had been pitted against all manner of unnatural creatures while he raided tombs and other such mystic places.

"What are you going to do? Are the people going to send you to investigate?" Kia asked. Tyr rolled his eyes, "I'm doing whatever Astrid tells me to. The others can go to naraka."

Kia's eyes narrowed and her mouth formed a thin line as a scowl permeated her face, "Excuse me? You trying to steal her from Hiccup?"

Tyr grabbed a flask of alcohol that he'd made earlier that week and took a long swig. Swallowing the bitter liquid, he gave his sister an honest look, "That girl has more control over me than any other being on this plane of existence."

Kia scooted over to sit next to him, the scowl still on her face, even as a curious glint took to her golden brown eyes, "How?"

"She has the Black Crystal shard."

There it was. The cat was out of the bag now. Astrid had taken and hidden the piece of the Black Crystal after using it to 'kill' the Drakonicus. The shard was the one thing that had tortured Tyr for his entire life. When someone placed their hands on it in his presence, it boiled the blood in his veins, automatically giving the Drakonicus a chance to break free.

He didn't actually know for sure that she had it, but it made sense. According to her recollection of the fight, she was the only living person to be there other than Milaki, and Tyr was certain that his close friend didn't have it. He had said that the shard was gone when he went looking for it, making Astrid the only reasonable holder.

Kia gaped and twitched, "D-do you think...do you think she'll use it against you?" Her fear was very real, but Tyr placed a hand on her shoulder, "Relax. If she wanted that, she would have done it already."

Another truth. Tyr was certain that Astrid was far too good a person to willingly use such a weapon against him. Not that he wasn't afraid of the possibility.

"Probably better that she has it than me." Tyr said, taking a skewer off the fire and biting into the fish with a grin. Kia didn't say much but rumbled her agreement with a low hum. Twenty minutes later, Tyr lay against Spectra in the darkness, having doused his fire and said farewell to his sister.

* * *

He woke early the next morning with a slight ache in his back. During the night he had rolled over onto a rock that was small enough to not wake him, but large enough to cause him some pain. Spectra's narrow chest rose and fell evenly, and the wind tickled her leathery wings.

Trying his best to stretch out the kink, he caught a whiff of his armpits and doubled over, "Gods! I smell worse than that bloody barn where all the gronckles hang out!" he exclaimed to nobody in particular.

When Astrid wasn't in fairyland with her boytoy, she kept Tyr on a tight watch, making sure he eats right and bathes regularly. He was pretty lax with all that other stuff, but when she had begun speaking of a haircut was when he drew the line. Nobody was allowed to touch his hair. Ever. Call him a fashion queen, but he handled his own hair. Period.

He had drawn laughs for hours when he made a deal with Astrid that she could cut his hair if he could cut hers. Her face had gone as purple as his headband and her ears shot steam like a scauldron as she stomped away.

Stripping down, he braced himself and ran into the cold ocean, the freezing water acting as his wake up. He washed off quickly and ran back to his clothing, still shivering as he whipped them on.

An amused growl emanated from the ground, and he glared at his dragon, "What are you on about? It's cold!" he snipped. Spectra rumbled at him and took off into the woods. She was going to find breakfast. Tyr still wasn't sure what she preferred to eat, so she often left to go eat, somehow understanding that he didn't know what to feed her.

Tyr began a slow walk back towards the village, assembling his business for the day. The dock would need to be rebuilt, but he was certain that Foreman didn't yet have the supplies to do so. The rehanging of the barn door was his only job thus far. If he could keep it that way, maybe he would go train for a while. He hadn't worked up a decent sweat in a few days and he was getting stiff.

He passed pretty close to the cove where Astrid and Hiccup were and thought momentarily about going to see them. They had been there for three days, so maybe Astrid wasn't _as_ mad at him. All he had done was teach Hiccup how to make her think that he was cheating on her, then he had Marcais convince her that nothing was wrong, then he watched as she and Hiccup were getting hot and heavy and...uh...yeah.

On second thought, not a good idea to go see her.

It was still pretty early when he arrived at the barn where he needed to hang the door. To his surprise, Fishlegs was already outside waiting for him, setting up ladders and other such equipment that they would need to do this.

"Well good morning there, early bird." he called as he approached. Fishlegs dropped his charcoal pencil and grinned, "Hi Tyr. Listen, I think if we get started now, we can be done by sundown!"

Tyr almost tripped, "Sundown?! What's so hard about rehanging a door?"

Fishlegs scratched his head, "Well...we kinda need to build a whole new door. I said rehanging before because it sounded better than 'build new door'."

Tyr fumed, "Dear ancestors, help me," Tyr muttered. _What do you need, Tyr?_ His father asked mentally.

_Nothing dad, it was a figure of speech._ Tyr replied.

XXX

"Are you still going to tell me about a demon?" Stoick asked the diplomat from the ship. These men had been going on and on about a demon ravaging their island ever since they got there. They raved about how the famous dragon riders of Berk have to go and help them get rid of it.

"Do you not believe us, Chief? Do you, riders of flying reptiles, not believe us about a demon?" the diplomat droned. Stoick contained his anger; this man had turned from asking for help to calling the Berkians ignorant in their new lifestyle.

"Dragon's are natural creatures in this world. I have never personally met a demon, therefor I can't say that they exist." Stoick said, sitting down at the table. Gobber and Spitelout stood next to him rolling their eyes. They didn't really buy this demon crap either.

"Now, tell me everything again." Stoick said.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Stoick stomped out of Meade Hall, his ears ringing with the same story the men had been relaying every day. He made his way to the Elders lodge, hoping that some council with her could help him figure out what to do.

Everything in him said take the money that was being offered and send his men on a wild goose chase. The problem was that that didn't sit well with him morally. Something smacked him when he thought about taking the money. Like his wife was following him around with a rolling pin. Gods praise her soul, she could do some damage with that rolling pin.

He knocked on the Elders door softly, not wanting to wake her if she was sleeping. She didn't have a good waking mood, and he had bruises to prove it too. The door eased open and the Elders soft, wise voice wafted up to him, "Come in, Stoick..."

He walked in and took great care to not bump any of the shelves that held potions and Thor alone knows what else. The Elder kept some interesting and strange items in her lodge.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, accepting his help to get in a padded armchair.

"It's about this demon business, and these sailors from Jumenjorg. What should I do?"

The Elder's old eyes flicked shut as she pondered his question. He waited patiently for her mind to work its magic. If he pressed her because of his impatience, he would not like the answer she gave. Finally, she opened her eyes, "They speak of demons. You speak of them not existing. What do you make of that?"

His head spun in confusion, "What d'you mean? They don't exist, do they?"

"I don't know."

"Well then ho-"

"Your daughter fought one recently." The Elder interrupted. Stoick mentally slapped himself. The Elder obviously referred to Astrid and her battle with the Drakonicus dragon.

When he was young and hotheaded, the Elder would calmly and deftly show him what he needed to do. Even now, almost twenty years later, she was still doing the same thing. She taught him when he was a child, and she was still teaching him now.

"Consult him and maybe find an answer to your quandry." She said before retreating up the stairs, clearly saying that she was done with the conversation. He let himself out the door and made his way to the docks. If anyone knew where Tyr was at that moment in time it would be Foreman.

Arriving at the dock commanders house, he rapped on the door roughly.

"Who is it?" Came Foreman's answer. Not bothering to announce himself, Stoick opened the door and walked into the kitchen, finding Foreman polishing his prized sword.

"What can I do for you?" He asked lazily. Stoick didn't sit down, intending to be there only moments, "Do you know where I can find Tyr?"

"S'posed to be helping Fishlegs with one of the barns. Over near the the forest. Did he do something wrong?"

Stoick shook his head, "No he didn't do anything, I just need to speak to him. Its about the diplomats and their 'demons'." he laughed. Foreman deadpanned, "Stoick, do think they're lying?"

"Don't you think its a little farfetched, Ragnar?"

The man barely twitched at the use of his real name, "Not really, considering that a demon eats, sleeps, drinks and laughs with us on a daily basis."

Stoick scratched his chin thoughtfully. Was he really the only one who took demons being _common_ poorly? Yes, he knew that Tyr was a demon and all, but for Stoick, one demon was more than enough for three lifetimes

Shrugging off the question, Stoick made his way from Foreman's hut to the forest barn, where he noticed Fishlegs looking at some plans that had probably been drawn up by the chiefs son at some point. He was calling out directions for someone who was working with the actually wood and metal, which Stoick could tell from the headband was the very person he was looking for.

"Tyr!" he called as he got closer to the pair of them. The silver eyes of the man leveled with the chiefs own and he smiled, "Good morning to you, Chief. Come to inspect the _rehanging_ of the door this morning?" He shot a glare at Fishlegs as he said it.

Stoick guessed that Fishlegs had pulled one of the oldest moves in the Ingerman handbook: told someone something to make them show up, then tell them what the job really is. His father did it all the damn time, and his father before him.

"No, Tyr. I need to speak to you about something delicate. Fishlegs, do you mind?" Stoick gestured to the barn, where Fish could go and entertain himself with dragons for a few minutes. The blonde boy nodded and hurried away. Fishlegs knew when to take a hint and not question someone when it seemed serious.

"Delicate?" Tyr asked, raising his eyebrow in curiosity. Stoick nodded, "It's about these men who arrived from Jumenjorg. They speak of a demon plaguing them, but I can't say I believe them."

Tyr grabbed a jug of water that he had procured before beginning his job, "Can't say I blame you. I mean really, demons? This isn't a fairytale."

Stoick coughed, "Well, uh...aren't you, y'know...er..."

"I'm pulling your beard, Stoick. You want me to tell you what I know about demons because technically speaking I am one, right?" Stoick nodded, "Very well. I'll do that tonight. Make sure that only people who absolutely need to know are in Meade Hall at sundown. Nobody else."

"Alright, thanks, I'll see you then." As he started to walk away, Stoick was stopped by Tyr's voice. It had a dangerously serious tone.

"I mean it, Stoick. Demonology is a _dark_ topic. In this case, What people don't know will let them sleep at night. You keep that in mind when you decide who to bring, if anyone."

Stoick swallowed nervously and nodded again, questions already beginning to from in his mind as he walked away.

* * *

**Stoick and the Elder have cooked up a plan to have Tyr teach about demons! Sounds like fun to me! Please Read and Review, and PM me any questions!**

**Just a refresher: Naraka is the hindu version of the underworld, or literally the "place of judgment." So when Tyr says they can all go to naraka, he means go to hell.**

**Also, any conversation with Ancestors is done in Antenati, the Language of Ancestors.**


	6. My Tongue (M Rated!)

**As stated in the chapter listing, this is M rated! If you no likey intimate stuffy, don't read it!**

* * *

Hiccup sat on the edge of the lake, lightly pulling on the fishing line he had cast there. It had been five days since his and Astrid's little vacation had started, and little could happen to dampen his mood. He had gone through teasing when it was planned that he just wanted a vacation filled with sex but that was the last thing on his mind. Even if it happened what seemed like every hour.

The time they had been able to spend with each other was what he was really after. Just him and her, two lovers in each others embrace with nothing to worry themselves about. Except the next meal.

Which landed him in the position he was now, fishing for lunch. Astrid herself was laying out in a patch of sunlight snoozing merrily. He was content to leave her that way while he fished in silence, the only noises coming from the sweet chirping of birds and the occasional rustling of the undergrowth.

The line yanked and he pulled back, setting the hook in the mouth of his latest catch. The fish thrashed and struggled against his pull and he could see the lake water making a fuss where his line led. Hand over hand, he pulled the fish in, having to wrap his hands with the line after a particularly spirited pull by his slippery adversary.

In the end, the result was the same as with the other six fish he'd reeled in already. The last two hours work would have held them for lunch and dinner tonight and maybe lunch tomorrow.

Would have.

Had it not been for a sleek black reptile that dashed out of the bushes and snatched three of the fish.

"Toothless! Give me tho-"

They were gone, swallowed down happily by the dragon. Hiccup ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "Why do you have to do that!? That was lunch!" Hiccup groaned. Toothless hummed and nudged the remaining four towards him as if saying _you've still got some_. Blasted lizard.

"That's not the point, buddy." Hiccup said, patting Toothless on the snout. He struggled to be mad at his closest friend and ally. Toothless had been there through everything with the Dragon War and the truce. He would have been there through the Ardni Invasion, but he was drugged. He probably would have died anyway.

"You should have known he would do that," Hiccup turned and looked at a yawning Astrid. He smiled as her hair fell messily around her eyes, obscuring the ice blue in them, but giving her a musty, ragged type of look that he found to be sexy.

Toothless chirped and bounded over to her, licking her sloppily, "Hi Toothless! Hi! No licking, please!" She half laughed, half scolded. She loved Toothless, but his tongue was another matter all together.

"Why don't you like him licking you?" Hiccup asked coming to sit next to her after Toothless had retreated. She faked a gagging noise, "It smells like fish and its so slimy that it messes up my hair and makes my skin a bit clammy." she groaned, trying desperately to make her hair conform to her head.

After struggling with it for about five minutes, she threw her hands up in exasperation, "Everything is about tongues! It's lick this, slobber on that, lick this person's face, slobber on her hair. Gods, I absolutely hate tongues!"

Hiccup scooted behind her and kissed her neck before giving it a nice, long lick, "How about my tongue..." he whispered before continuing. He felt her shudder underneath his hands and he took the initiative.

He kept licking her neck up behind her ear, then he nibbled on the small lobe, drawing a cute squeak from her. Toothless gurgled grossly and scampered off into the trees. He wasn't a fan of Hiccup and Astrid when they looked to be getting intimate with each other.

Placing his hands on the front of her shoulders, he pulled her down to lay on her back. He moved and leaned over her, his hands placed firmly on the ground between her stomach and arm on either side. Hiccup leaned his head down and began his licking once again, this time just below her neckline. She moaned quietly and tried to raise her head to kiss him, but he pushed her back down and shook his head. This was his time to please her, and he would _not_ have her trying to repay him. Yet.

He nipped her soft skin between licks and worked his way, slowly and luxuriously, up to her chin. There he stopped his licking and placed small, almost insignificant kisses down her jaw line till he got to her neck again, and down onto the joint between her neck and shoulder. There he bit her, drawing a squeal of lustful delight, which only served to make him hungrier for her.

He bit again and sucked, leaving a small red stain on her otherwise serenely perfect skin. Her hands groped their way around to finger his belt, but he grabbed them and pinned them down beside her head, "Nothing from you..." he muttered before licking up her neck once more.

He moved on to lick her bottom lip, then the top lip, savoring the strawberry taste of them. He didn't need to ask as she opened her mouth with a moan, and he dipped his tongue inside to wrestle with hers.

As their tongues winded around one another, Hiccup began to work his hands over Astrid's clothes. They first slid from her shoulders down to her breasts, massaging and kneading on the way down. When he rested them on the pert mounds of her chest, he squeezed gently, drawing a groan of pleasure. Astrid was wiggling beneath him, her legs rubbing together as her hands, now free from his grip, twined into his shaggy hair pulling him impossibly closer.

He came up for breath and was surprised to find her struggling beneath him, "What are you on about?" He panted, lips still inches from hers.

"Get off me!" She whined. His eyes widened. Astrid Hofferson the powerful was _whining_ for him to get off her.

So sexy.

"I don't think so, my valkyrie." he grinned as he descended to her neck once more, leaving her lips alone so he could listen to her moans. He was in complete control of the situation, and he intended to keep it.

Her struggles ceased when he bit her again, and her hands came to rest on his back as she lost herself to the feeling. He sucked and licked, but soon found himself drawn elsewhere. He got an idea and smirked.

His right hand shot to her belt and slipped Tyr's longblade out, cutting her belt in the process, "Hey!" she yelped before he silenced her with a kiss, "I'll buy you new clothes." he said into her mouth.

"Wha..._dear Odin!_" She screamed as he placed the tip of the longblade at her neck and sliced straight through her shirt and breast strap without cutting her skin. He continued on by slicing apart her woolen leggings, then ripping the severed clothing away.

After, he tossed the longblade away and kissed her neck, moving slowly down to her chest. She moaned and threaded her fingers through his hair as his tongue glided over her left nipple. He licked across to her right nipple and gave it similar attention, throwing in little suckles before continuing down her body. As he got further down, he skin grew hotter.

Reaching her core, he swept a finger across her folds, drawing a cry of pleasure. "Do you like my tongue, Astrid?" he asked, looking into her eyes. She nodded briskly, trying to push his head into her, but he resisted, "Tell me what you want, Astrid." he said evilly, teasing her.

"Please Hiccup...please..give me..."

"Say what you want, Astrid." He was enjoying this.

"I love your tongue, Hiccup Haddock!" she yelled as he plunged his tongue into her folds. Her back arched off the ground as he licked and sucked at her, savoring the taste. Her hands now had a vice grip on his head as she held on for dear life, orgasm's rolling over her.

He sucked the pearl at the top of her core, sliding his fingers in and out of her womanhood making her scream once more. Coming up onto his knees, his face covered in her fluids, Hiccup grinned at her almost lifeless body, "Do you still hate tongues?"

* * *

Well do you? THis is my first ever attempt at writing smut, so please let me know how it went! Should i do it again, should i retire from it, should i jump in front of the proverbial bus? Let me know!


	7. The Flaming Witch Act II

**Hey Guys. Sorry if I'm not enthusiastic during this. I'm all kicked up on drugs because i got hit by a throwing hammer yesterday and messed up my leg pretty hard. I finished this last night but didn't want to post at 11 pm. I was too loopy :)**

**Between the XXxXX's is a massive ass quote. I felt it needed to be put in a section of its own. Think of it as taking ten minutes to explain something non stop. Tyr is speaking.**

* * *

Tyr left the barn shortly after nightfall, having completed his task. The door wasn't set on the barn just yet; that would be done by a different group of workers. Good thing too, because Tyr was getting sick of hammering. How a blacksmith dealt with it was beyond him.

After leaving, he went to Marcais' place and washed up there. The old man let Tyr drop in whenever, for any reason. Said he was indebted to Tyr. In Tyr's opinion, it was the other way round.

The roads in the village were dimly lit by torches, set at regular but distant intervals. The sky was cloudy tonight, so there was no moonlight. Fitting for the discussion Tyr was about to have.

As he walked, he heard a rustle, then a tapping on the stone behind him. Instinctively, he extended his right hand back and felt Spectra's soft, scaly nose nudge his palm.

"What are you worried about, girl?" he asked softly. Spectra uttered a low whine as she drew up next to him, her purple scales looking black in the dim light. For reasons Tyr still had to discover, she hated storms and rain and would often huddle in caves when the weather got bad. Recently, she had taken to hiding in Meade Hall thought the villagers had yet to discover her.

The only people who knew about her were the other dragon trainers, Milaki and Marcais. Tyr had left it up to her when she would reveal herself.

"Sneak into the Hall behind me, girl. I'll sleep there tonight." he said. She rumbled happily and darted ahead. Tyr chuckled to himself. _I said behind me._ He thought. Dragons will be dragons.

It took him ten more minutes to reach the Hall. He heard the telltale click on talons on the stone just after he opened the door, telling him that Spectra was inside.

Stoick sat at a center table, next to the fire, sipping at a mug of mead and staring at the diplomats from Jumenjorg. Next to Stoick sat Foreman, Elder Gothi, and Gobber. Those were apparently the three that he'd picked to receive this lesson.

"Thank you." he said, accepting a mug of hard ale from Foreman. Tyr could tell that Stoick was unsure of this whole deal. The man's nervous twitch and wide, concerned eyes said it all. Looking away from the chief, Tyr bowed deeply to Elder Gothi, who nodded and hummed her greeting.

"Why are they here?" Tyr asked, pointing with his mug at the diplomats, who all shifted nervously under his gaze.

"I thought that it might be a good idea for them to tell you what they told us." Stoick answered. Tyr nodded and took a long swig of the ale, staring at the head diplomat expectantly. The man shifted nervously again and stared at the table.

"Well?" Tyr droned, his voice sounding like cold steel. He was gifted with the ability to make his voice unemotional and ice cold. It was a startlingly effective tool.

The man stuttered as he began his tale. Tyr wasn't surprised at all about the description of the witch nor about the first time they found someone murdered by it. About halfway through, the diplomat began to describe their efforts to chase the witch off.

XXX

"_Through the trees! There it goes!" the man yelled as he and his group chased the witch. It sprinted through the trees, breaking branches and ripping leaves off in sheets. The man held his eyes forward as best he could, his eyes catching short glimpses of the fiery hair._

_His comrades yelled and whooped as they ran behind him, throwing axes and spears over his head. That was pointless, they couldn't even see what they were aiming at, but he had an idea._

_In the next mile or so, the trees broke and an open field that stretched for about two hundred yards before forest closed in again. He had three throwing axes, twelve throwing knives and a spear. His aim was next to flawless. He would hit this evil creature and rid the world of its taint._

_His right hand man drew up next to him, "Why aren't we trying to cut it off at the gorge? We're wasting our time chasing it like this!"_

_The lead man gave his companion a slight shove as something small and white whistled past them. A gurgling cry behind them signaled the end of another viking, "The bitch still has some fight in her."_

_'It's not a her! This thing isn't of this world!"_

"_Her or not, she's killed six men on this chase." The lead replied._

"_Besides, the other group is already at the gorge." he said as they broke the cover of the trees. Only twenty yards in front of them, the witch kept sprinting, the flaming hair shifting and licking the air._

_He took out a throwing ax and hurled it, missing the witches thigh by a clear foot. His long gait helped balance his throw, but he needed to factor in how much she moved on the run. _

_Setting the ax at his ear, he lined up the throw and let it fly. The ax flew straight and true and buried itself into the witches shoulder, drawing an otherworldly scream of pain. The witch only faltered for a moment before taking off again, but it was obviously running slower._

_The lead smirked at the scream. It sounded like victory to him. \_

_Once he had reached the spot where the ax had bitten into the demons shoulder, he slowed down and stood still, panting but otherwise satisfied._

_His men stopped around him, "Why are we stopping!? It's getting away!"they yelled, pointing at the receding form._

_He grinned and waved them off, "We have what we need here, men." he said, looking down at the grass. His men followed his eyes and found what he was looking at. A bright splotch of steaming blood stained the green blades._

_He smirked again and narrowed his eyes at the mere speck that was his quarry, "If you can bleed, you can die, witch."_

XXX

Tyr tightened his eyes as he listened. The diplomat seemed to pick up on this and stopped speaking. Tyr's eyes remained cold and hard as he drank and spoke, "Did you find what killed the men in the forest?"

The diplomat nodded, "Small, white spikes. We found seven in all and have kept them in a safe place in our port, Metal Hook."

Tyr considered the man's story before downing the rest of his ale, "Thank you for telling me, now you can leave." He didn't mean to sound so rude and cruel, but it came across that way. The other sailors jumped up, "We have a right to know what is plaguing our island!"

Tyr shot the man a gaze that could crack stone, "What makes you think I'm going to tell you?"

He attempted to match Tyr's eyes, but he withered and shrank back. The head diplomat tried to wave everyone to calm down, "Now , now, let us not be rash. I'm sure we can come to an agreemen-"

"I'm not telling you anything, and if you and your men are not gone in exactly ten seconds I start breaking limbs!" Tyr yelled, his deep voice booming through the hall.

The diplomat whimpered and looked to Stoick for help, but found none forthcoming. Stoick stood up and put a hand on Tyr's shoulder, "It's best you leave, lads. I have your interests at heart, don't worry. We'll have an answer for you by morning."

The sailors looked disgruntled as they left the hall, but Tyr couldn't care less. He was thinking about their story. Stoick helped the Elder into a seat, then sat down himself, Gobber and Foreman electing to stand.

The Elder began conversation, "So Tyr. What do you intend on revealing to us today?"

It was a hell of a broad question, but he didn't expect much less, "What would you like to know, Elder?" he answered back respectfully.

She sighed, "Since demons have become part of our lives, we should need to know what types there are...if there are different types." Ah good, a starting point.

Tyr scratched his head, "Alright, what I'm about to talk about isn't light stuff. If at any point you feel overwhelmed or don't want to hear more, tell me and I'll stop." He looked to the three members of his audience, but none of them moved.

He sighed deeply and began.

XXxXX

"Demon's, as a base fact, are not curses sent by the gods. They are born...sort of. Any living thing can hold a grudge, whether that grudge be between two beetles or between two dragons, a grudge is a grudge. During their lives, the two involved in the grudge will most times work it out before they die. However, in some cases, the grudge goes unresolved and burns longer and more painfully. The one who is most vindictive and vengeful will try to do things violently in life, and as a result, will die with that grudge still burning deep within their hearts.

This is when a Demon is born. A spirit with a grudge is 'born' again as a demon and will haunt the one that they hate for all time. In the case that the exact person they hate is dead, then the ancestors will be haunted and probably killed at some point. Demons do not age, do not eat out of necessity and are violent till the end.

There are three types of demons, and one you already know. Flaming Witches are, for demons, common in the North land's. From what I know, you vikings are deathly afraid of some goddess named Hel, a woman who rules over the land of the dead. As such, almost all demons from the North land's would be an image of this goddess because most vikings fear her more than naraka itself.

The next demon is called a Chaya, a full embodiment of evil. Chaya are demons that have held the same grudge for thousands of years. The can use magic, alter their appearance and even blink. When I say blink, I mean they can dematerialize into the spirit world and then reappear in physical form somewhere else entirely. You ever identify that a Chaya is nearby, run away. Not even the Drakonicus is sure if a Chaya can be killed.

The last type is called a Sage. These guys aren't inherently evil at all, but their powers are what makes them 'demons'. A sage comes from a spirit that had no will in life beyond that of knowledge. No feelings of love, lust, hate, anger, just the pursuit of knowledge. When they died, their thirst for more knowledge bore them into the world again to search for more. Sages are men and women, though they can appear as dragons and even normal animals. A Sage will never try to kill, but at the same time they will never openly help anyone. Due to their constant search for knowledge, you will find that there is little a Sage does not know, and they can do all sorts of magic. The extent or power of that magic is unknown.

Sages will, upon request, tell mortals information or offer their magical abilities as service. For a price. That price is not like a mercenaries price though. The price is often something much more valuable than money because of the terms of the contract.

When a mortal asks a Sage to do something, a contract is signed in blood to guarantee the legitimacy of the request. So, if a person asks a Sage to do something for them, the Sage will always demand something of equal or greater value in return. Material payment means nothing, so the payment must be spiritual. What that means exactly, I do not know.

XXxXX

Tyr finished his lecture and brought his eyes to look into each of the others own eyes. Foreman looked a little shaken, but not too bad. Stoick didn't look shaken at all, but not confident either. The Elder looked back at Tyr with solid eyes, "How do you know such things?"

Tyr shrugged, "As much as the Drakonicus can look through my mind, I can look through his. As an ancient demon, he knows a lot about the other types."

Stoick had his eyes set on the table as if his stare would set the wood aflame. His hands twitched and his eyebrows were furrowed. Foreman had gotten a hold of himself and looked very much the same as his chief. Tyr sat down quietly to let them speak or react in their own time. He did not have to wait too long for it, "That's actually not as bad as I thought it would be." he said, getting up to pour himself more ale.

Tyr raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Just because they don't sound terrible doesn't mean they are fun to deal with."

Stoick waved him off, "Just because I said it's not as bad, doesn't mean I'm excited about it."

"Alright you two, not a pissing contest, relax." Foreman said, passing his mug to Stoick for a refill. Tyr and the chief chuckled to themselves as the Elder stood up, "Very well. What do you want to do about the diplomats?" she asked, speaking to Tyr more than Stoick.

Tyr downed his ale, "I need to go." He did need to go to Jumenjorg, but not because of the 'witch'. There was something else there that he wanted to check.

"To kill the witch? You know how to kill it?" Foreman asked. Tyr shook his head, "Nope. But I have a hunch. Besides, I want to see something."

The Elder nodded, "Fine then. When do you wish to leave, and do you want company? Maybe Hiccup and Astrid?"

Tyr shook his head, "No, don't interrupt them. I'll check around to see who would be interested in a small vacation."

"That would be a long vacation, Tyr." Stoick commented. Tyr turned a curious look onto the mountainous chief, "Why is that?"

Stoick pointed in the direction of the sea, "The ice will be setting in from the north in a few weeks. It'll take at least ten days by sea to reach Jumenjorg. To avoid the ice, you would need to be done with whatever you need to do in three days. Somehow, I doubt that could be possible."

Damn. There was no way Tyr would be ready to come back to Berk in such a short window. No doubt Astrid would use his head for a mantle piece if he left for a few months without telling her. Maybe he should interrupt them; they could continue their alone time on Jumenjorg.

"Very well. I'll go and see if Hiccup and Astrid wish to come. How long would the ice be thick?" Tyr asked. Stoick scratched his chin before turning to Foreman with a questioning glance. "Between eight and twelve weeks." the dock master answered.

Holy shit. Almost three months of ice. Sighing, Tyr stood up and threw back his ale, "Stoick, do your children like to stay up late?" he asked with a smirk. He was pretty sure he knew what they would be up to, "How the hel should I know? Hiccup told me that this time was theirs and theirs only. You;ll be risking your neck if you go there now."

Tyr shrugged, "I'll be fine. I don't think Astrid will kill me again." He watched as a smirk reach the chiefs lips, "You sure?"

He gulped nervously, thinking about Astrid when she was mad, "Yeah...I'll be fine...I think."

Tyr left the Hall to the chorus of Stoick and Foreman's laughter, and with his back to the wide grin on the Elders old features.

XXX

Astrid sat against the backboard of the bed in the small cottage, candles lit and burning around her. She silently wished he had lit those candles so they would have an intimate atmosphere, but that wasn't the reason. He wanted to draw her while she lay in bed.

So here she lay as Hiccup drew her. The scratching of his charcoal pencil was all she could hear and really pay attention to because he asked for complete silence.

It had been an hour since he started and she had no clue how much longer this was going to take, but she was starting to get bored.

She was thinking about spicing things up by taking off an article of clothing or two when a twitch in the back of her mind alerted her to someone approaching.

"Hiccup, stop drawing and put something decent on." She said, swinging her legs out of the bed. He spluttered, "Why?"

"Tyr is coming. I'm going to break his arm." she said flatly. She was still furious with the man for his role in her and Hiccups little vacation. It was lovely to spend all this time with him, but Tyr had shown Hiccup how to be sneaky and manipulative. She didn't like that.

He planted himself in front of the door, "Hold on a minute, beautiful. You're not breaking anyone tonight. Your warning to stay away was plenty clear so he must have a reason for coming." Hiccup didn't question the odd mental connection Tyr and Astrid shared anymore; he wouldn't like to either, she suspected.

Astrid huffed and crossed her arms, "He has to be taught a lesson fo-"

Hiccup interrupted her by catching her lips with his own. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up before spinning around twice. She gasped for air when he put her down. No matter how many times it happened, his kisses left her speechless. "Now, just listen to what he has to say before breaking anyone's limbs."

She huffed and nodded. He had become the voice of reason to her more...macabre side. She stepped to the front door and opened it, expecting to see Tyr waiting outside with a bucket of water to throw on her.

"Good evening!" he said cheerily when she opened the door.

"What do you want?" she asked crossly. He pouted, "Are you still mad at me? Why is everyone mad at me?" he whined.

"Because you're an idiot. Come inside." She retorted before walking into the little kitchen. Tyr followed her and greeted Hiccup who came out of the bedroom. He sat down in a chair while Hiccup came over, settled in behind Astrid and snaked his arms around her midsection.

"So what do you want?" she asked again, grabbing Hiccups fingers, trying to stay in control. Tyr gave her an almost sorry look, "Please don't be angry at me, Astrid."

She crossed her arms and looked away. Why was she so mad, she wasn't sure, but the very sight of Tyr infuriated her, "What do you want?!" she hissed.

Tyr winced at her voice before holding his hands up in apology, "Alright, alright. It's about those men from Jumenjorg. The chief would like me to go there and kill a demon, an-"

"Why should we care?" she blurted. Hiccup pinched her hand but she ignored him. Tyr didn't seem to notice her interjection, "I would like you two to come with me. When we leave, we will be gone for three months at the least."

Astrid furrowed her brow, "Why would you be gone that long?"

"The ice sets in soon. No ship could make it back in one piece." Hiccup murmured into her ear, to which she snorted. Tyr sat in silence as she pondered what to do. Finally she came to an answer, "So you are going to kill a demon. Why does that concern us?"

Tyr shot up out of his seat, "What is with you! Why are you so pissed off at me? What in the name of the gods did I do wrong?" he yelled.

Astrid's patience ran out, "You taught Hiccup how to lie! You taught him how to keep a secret from me!" she screamed back, her eyes beginning to water. Hiccup would never lie to her, _couldn't_ lie in fact. Tyr taught him how to do just that, and it worried Astrid to the ends of the earth.

"What do you mean 'I taught' him! From what I've heard, he kept a _dragon_ a secret from you for months!" Tyr fired back. Astrid peeled Hiccups tightening hands away from her as she took a threatening step forward, "I didn't love him then! We weren't going to be married then! He could keep it from me because I didn't care!"

Her furious tears rolled down her cheeks in rivers. It was like a dam broke behind her solid features when she could finally just yell all her frustrations out. The fact that she was yelling at the man she was frustrated with was just a bonus. Her anger hit a critical point and she lashed out, the prominent knuckles on her right hand cracking off Tyr's jaw.

The silver eyed man took the hit and then..._taunted_ her, "Is that all you got, fairy?" he snickered. She wound up again and slammed another fist into his chest, then another, then another. He stood stock still, planted like a mountain against the wind, and let her fire away at him. She punched him until her knuckles hurt before falling against him, crying.

She felt his arms wrap around her, bringing unnatural warmth with them. Hiccup was silent while this was going on, and Astrid was grateful. She was sure that Hiccup and Tyr had come to some odd understanding about her, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"I didn't do it to hurt you, Astrid. I was trying to make this time of yours special." Tyr whispered to her.

She sobbed a bit more before straightening up and wiping her eyes. There was a large wet stain on Tyr's shirt where her tears had gathered, but she ignored it and found solace in Hiccups embrace once more, "We'll go with you, Tyr. When do we leave?"

His sweat dropped and he gaped, "You were beating me like a post five minutes ago, and now you're all business?" She grinned, "I feel better now, thanks."

He coughed twice before clearing his throat, "We leave at dawn in two days time."

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this. Please read and review while I go and cut my leg off. Thanks!**


	8. Husband Effect

**Greetings and salutations, my readers! This is quite literally the shortest chapter I have written for anything to date. It is short, only 1500 words, but contains a crucial plot point for the rest of the Flaming Witch Arc. Enjoy!**

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The long ship rocked on the waves and Snotlout dumped his lunch over the bow. Astrid cringed at the sound of the bile slapping into the waves, "Snotlout, how can you call yourself a viking when you can't handle the rocking of a sh-ah!"

She dove out of the way as Tyr hit the bow directly next to Snotlout and Astrid listened to another round of retching.

"Wow. All I can say at this scene." Ruffnut snickered as she waltzed up next to Astrid, leaning against the mast. It was day three aboard the long ship to Jumenjorg. Of course, when the others had found out that Tyr, Hiccup and Astrid were headed out, they had all immediately demanded to be brought along.

It made sense to bring them. Fishlegs had information for a middle name, and was the best mariner from Berk. Minus his father Sharkshand who was at the helm. Ruff wanted to go because Astrid was going, and Tuff wanted to go because Ruff got to go. Snotlout wanted to go because he thought there might be babes on Jumenjorg for him. Fresh meat, he called them. Before Ruffnut had smacked him with a paddle.

"Why do these things rock so much...ughh!" Tyr began to speak before hurling again. Astrid gave him a wicked smile, "Why Tyr, I thought you were at sea for seventeen years?"

"Fifteen, and those battleships didn't rock nearly as much as this piece of lumber does!" He retorted. Astrid laughed along with Ruff before she decided to find Hiccup. Tyr complaints fell on deaf ears because as long ships go, the one they were in was _very _stable.

This was a campaign long ship with several decks for cargo and supplies. They were due back to Berk in fourteen weeks, so they had packed the cargo decks to the max. All their dragons were brought along in customized pens that they adapted from Ardni designs.

Toothless refused to be put in a cage, and as such roamed the deck with curiosity, nudging sailors as they worked, closely inspecting the heavy duty knots that the men tied off. He followed Sharkshand around like a puppy, sometimes imitating the rotund mans gait. Every now and then he would go and take a nap next to Hiccup, who sat in the same spot for all three days.

He had practically nailed himself to the stern of the ship, sketching the waves and calling out to any dragons that he saw. He was as curious as a child on his first hunt. Astrid had caught his eyes lingering on her several times, only to have him quickly look away.

It made no sense to her; if he wanted to talk to her, ask her something, even slam her against the deck and make love to her, all he had to do...was do it. There was no need for him to be afraid of her anymore, be embarrassed.

She walked lightly to the stern, where he was busy sketching some clouds as they wheeled overhead. She took to tip toeing the rest of the way and when she was close enough she quickly jumped beside him and fell into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Hi Hiccup." She said happily.

He smiled back and kissed her, "Well hey there, my valkyrie. What is it you're up to this morning?"

She giggled like a child. She loved it when he called her his valkyrie, especially in public, "Wondering about you."

"Me?"

"Yes Hiccup. For the past few days you've been a little...distant. I catch you staring at me sometimes but you don't say anything and look away when I smile at you. Its like before we were together, like you are nervous. What's going on?"

He absentmindedly rubbed her back, something he had taken to doing whenever he was deep in thought. It felt good so she didn't mind. He sighed, "Do you remember what it felt like when we first started dating? All the little adventures we would go on, all the trouble we would get into?" She nodded.

"Well this one seems different. All those were filled with danger and all that, and we loved that risky feeling. Now though, when I look at you and realize that you could get hurt, I get a sick feeling in my stomach, like I want to hug you and not let go, not let the terrible world get it's claws into you."

Astrid felt her stomach flutter and turn. It was rare for Hiccup to be so...open with her. With anyone, for that matter.

"It's like I don't want you to leave the ship. When it rains, I don't want you to get wet. When it's cold, I want you to be warm. When it's dangerous, I want you safe. I don't know what to call it, bu-"

"We call it the Husband Effect." Sharkshand rumbled as he stomped over. Hiccup gaped at the huge man, "Huh? It has a name?"

Sharkshand laughed, which sounded like a war drum, "Yes, Hiccup. Every man goes through it. I did, your father did, Astrid's father did, and its the same every time."

Astrid felt Hiccup's hands tighten around her, and she welcomed his embrace. He was warm despite the chill, salty ocean air. She felt him take a deep breath, "What is the Husband Effect?"

Sharksteeth plopped himself down on a barrel, "Fishlegs! Watch the helm, boy!"

"Yes, father!"

"Ok, Hiccup. The Husband Effect is something that men go through when the one they love spends a considerable amount of time in dangerous situations. When you and Astrid were just boyfriend and girlfriend, you didn't mind if she got hurt because you were not responsible for her."

"I have always been concer-"

"No Hiccup. Most of us aren't even aware, but when love is so fickle that it can be broken with a simple word, you won't care nearly as much. Now that you and Astrid are engaged to be married, you find yourself to be much more worried for her?" Sharkshand had clearly not heard most of Hiccup's previous conversation. Hiccup nodded quietly, his eyes wide.

"Astrid, do me a favor and leave men to this discussion." She felt her cheeks get hot, but batted down her anger. Sharkshand was not being sexist or degrading, he just wanted to speak alone with Hiccup.

She didn't say anything and kissed Hiccup sweetly, holding it a mite longer than necessary, but she liked the taste of his lips.

To her pleasure, Sharkshand sat in silence and let her and Hiccup have their moment. When she broke the kiss, he leaned into her ear, "If you can persuade the others to stay out of the quarters later, you might like it."

She held back a squeal of delight before pecking him on the cheek and running off.

XXX

"You got yourself a pretty one, Hiccup." Sharkshand rumbled as Hiccup watched Astrid skip away. She looked every bit like a joyful child.

"Don't ask me how." Hiccup said absentmindedly. He rocked forward as Sharkshands lumpy knuckles rapped on his head, "You got her by using yer old noggin, lad."

"Thanks for knocking my brain out." Hiccup grumbled. The huge viking chuckled before beckoning Hiccup to sit down again, "Alright lad, the Husband Effect. You already know what it is, but you need to know what to do."

Hiccup nodded an eyebrow, "What to do? What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said, don't be daft. Listen my boy, I know the feeling. You are going to want to protect her from the very ground she walks on. You're not going to want her to leave your sight for more than a minute. Listen carefully; you have to resist the urge."

"Resist the urge? Resist the urge to what?"

"Resist the urge to smother her, Hiccup. You will have to let the girl do as she wishes, no matter how much it pains you to do it. If you love her, and I know you do, then you'll do this for her."

Hiccup scratched the stubble forming on his chin. Had he not always let Astrid do what she wanted? Not like he could stop her anyway from doing what she pleased anyway. "Thanks Sharkshand, but I think I'll manage." Hiccup said before patting the large man on the shoulder and walking to join his beloved at the bow.

Sharkshand watched him go, shaking his head, "Hiccup, you tamed a dragon. You tamed a Hofferson. Yet, those battles were nothing compared to this. I hope you are ready." He spit over the side of the ship before returning to the helm of the ship.

* * *

**What do you think? I will be adopting a type of filler system for this, because the plot for the Flaming Witch main story pieces is actually really thick. Anyhow, this will be my last writing for the next week and a half, two weeks. My semester classes end on Monday, and then next Wednesday I start finals! After that though, Summer is upon me! Expect plenty of updates then.**


	9. Landing

**Hey guys!**

**I'm really sorry about the wait for more Warm Days, but my life has been one debacle after another recently, coming to a peak with yy account getting suspended by fanfiction for something I posted, (An M-rated one shot for Bleach). That being said, FF told me that I'm on a watchlist for "unacceptable content in my writing, not displayed elsewhere on the site." I will let you readers decide on the legitimacy of that statement.**

**Nevertheless! This is short, but I couldn't put off an update any longer! Enjoy!**

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"The blonde one is beautiful, eh?" The young dockworker whispered to his female friend. She looked at the bow of the ships where seven people stood.

"Yeah, she is really beautiful. Fresh meat, eh, Narco?" She chuckled. Narco was a vanity stricken head case. The boy loved himself before his own mother, and was none too shy with the opposite sex.

He growled at her as he pulled in the line that had been thrown to them.

This was a ship for the fabled island of Berk, the apparent "dragon riders" of the north. Mjoda had scoffed louder than all the others when it had been revealed that the elders were going to one myth to combat another. Dragons were creatures as evil as the witch in her mind.

"Mjoda, go get the guard. I don't trust these people. Especially if they have anything to do with dragons." Narco said.

Mjoda walked off towards the guard tower, but she saw that the captain was already on his way to the docks. Running up, she bowed to him, "Well met, Captain. Are you coming to greet the Berkians?" She ask politely.

He growled, "No. I'm as annoyed as you at their presence, Mjoda, you should know that." The Captain was Mjoda's father, Kagg. Their family had been the captains of the Jumenjorg guard for almost ten generations. Mjoda was in line to be the eleventh captain, and she would take the position when her father retired.

"What are you going to do then?" She asked, falling into step behind him.

"See what weapons they carry and..._inform_ them as to what the penalties are if they annoy me."

Mjoda smiled inwardly. Her family, the Stromsons, were not the leaders in title, but in essence they were. The chief had most novelty rights and powers, but Kagg ran things.

"Narco, Lets go and greet our new friends." Mjoda said as she passed him. He sniggered at the sarcasm in her voice and fell in step.

They came to a stop alongside the crowd that had gathered at the ship and waited there. The seven younger looking vikings disembarked first, with three older ones following them. The blonde was first, followed by a cute chestnut haired boy. Two platinum blondes, probably twins, who were throwing punches and slaps while the fought to get down the gangplank.

Following them were tow boys who were much more muscled than the rest, one who was stocky and was who was just big. A huge man followed the big blonde boy and they looked very alike. Probably father and son, and judging by the activities of the two, their family were sailors by trade. Another was an older woman, blonde hair much like the pretty girl. Probably mother or aunt.

The last man was very different from the rest. He was a darker shade of peach skin, had short gray hair and walked very upright and straight. No way this man was a viking.

"Welcome vikings of Berk!" The chief of Jumenjorg, Murk, exclaimed as he clasped his hand with the chestnut haired boy. He smiled, "Thanks. I'm Hiccup Haddock III, and I'm in charge of this group."

Murk's smile could not have been wider. The chestnut boy beckoned to the group behind him, "I'll let everyone introduce themselves. Guys."

"I'm Astrid Hofferson." The pretty blonde said, nodding at the chief.

"Ingrid Hofferson." The older blonde said. So they were related.

"Fishlegs Ingerman." The large blonde boy said.

"Sharkshand Ingerman." The larger man said. Also related.

"Ruffnut Thorston."

"Tuffnut Thorston." Twins, clearly.

"Snotlout Jorgenson." This was the bulky one. Not even close to as large as the Ingerman boy, but still muscled.

"Marcais Judicieux, at your service." The unique old man said, bowing deeply while sweeping his right arm out wide.

"Tyr Pretor." This man was the most interesting to her. He had long black hair with one single braid running past his right cheek. His eyes were a piercing, steely silver and the thick verdant purple headband contrasted everything brightly.

Murk clapped his hands, "Welcome, all of you, to Jumenjorg! Now, I understood that you...er...ride...dragons? Is that correct?" He asked nervously. Mjoda could see the beads of sweat on the mans forehead from thirty feet away.

The one called Hiccup nodded, "Yeah, we do. Is Jumenjorg still at war with them?"

Mjoda saw her father step out from the crowd, "No, but we aren't exactly friends either. We leave them alone, they leave us alone."

The Berkians cast wary glances at each other, and the chestnut Hiccup boy whispered something to the blonde girl. The bulky one, Snotlout, looked at them nervously before opening his mouth, "Where can we get some food? I'm starvi-"

He didn't finish as the silver eyed man punched him in the head, "Stop thinking about your stomach! Don't embarrass us in front of the chief!" He hissed. To her surprise, Mjoda stifled a giggle without much success. Snotlout and his complete innocence interested her.

Ever since she was a little girl, everything Mjoda knew was how her family acted. Everything about the Stromsons was about power. About intrigue. Deceit. Who could you trick into doing your own dirty work. Who could you get out of the way without the public knowing about it.

On more than one occasion, she had been the weapon her father had used to keep power in the Stromson circle. He had even taught her how to mix poisons and coat daggers with them.

Snotlout looked...just innocent. Like he had never done a terrible thing in his life. Mjoda had never killed, but she had been close to it.

"It's fine, Master Tyr! You can all come to my home for now, and we will have a feast tonight to celebrate your arrival!" Murk exclaimed. Tyr nodded and thanked him with Hiccup before the Berkians followed the chief.

"Pompous newcomers. We should throw them out on principle." Narco sneered. Mjoda punched his arm, "Shut up. The witch has killed six people, so maybe she'll kill them." She snapped.

"Whoa, a little defensive about them are we?" Narco snickered. His snickering stopped as Mjoda turned an icy glare on him, "Watch it, before I cut off your manhood. Come, father expects us to be at the Chiefs right now."

XXX

"Tyr, that really hurt." Snotlout whined as they followed the chief to a large building near the center of the village. Metal Hook, the town, was bigger than Berk but a bit more spread out. The people that they passed varied from happy greeters to unhappy starers. It was unsettling as much an enjoyable.

"Well, stop thinking about food all the time and keep your mouth shut." Tyr retorted. Truth be told, he was just as hungry as Snotlout.

Snotlout just beat him to the punch is all.

They arrived at a large lodge, pretty plain in decoration, but bearing the mark of a chief. The living and dining room was a large single space, and the fire place was roaring. A tall, dark haired woman wore a fur vest and skirt. Her thick, bare legs were long and ended with knee high fur boots.

"Please, Meet my wife Jakka. Jakka, meet the Berkians that have come to help us with the witch!"

She smiled merrily, "Oh joy! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Her eyes twinkled like stars and she shook everyone's hands. "Please, please go sit down, I'll put the leftovers over the fire!"

Hiccup smiled at her excitement, "You have a wonderful wife, Chief Murk." Hiccup said, taking a seat on the couch. Astrid stood next to him and leaned on the chair. The others took various seats around the room.

"Yes, she is a bright candle to these dark days. It's a pity she cannot be among the people." Murk said, his face falling.

"She can't leave the house?" Astrid interjected curiously.

"The recent killings have been quite grisly, and at the last one, the witch left a message."

Hiccup swallowed nervously, "What was the message?" He asked.

Murk looked around the room feverishly and called his wife into the room, "This is why she cannot leave. The message said 'Thor has forsaken you. Your chiefs wife shall be the next sacrifice.'"

Hiccup scratched his head, "Well,er...that's terrible."

"It is, but we have persevered. It has been two weeks since that message was found, and the witch has not killed again." Murk said, placing a small kiss on his wife's hand. She smiled and kissed his forehead before nuzzling into his hair.

Hiccup smiled at the chief and his wife. They were so loving, so pure, so...unaffected, by this whole witch affair. His hand absently dropped from the arm of the chair and brushed Astrid's leg. His mind went back to when the ship was coming into the docks earlier that day.

* * *

"Hiccup, Astrid, can you two come here?" Tyr called from the helm, where had had been talking to Sharkshand.

"Yeah, Tyr, coming." Hiccup called. He grabbed Astrid's hand and dragged her over, "What's up?"

Tyr gave them a serious look, "Listen, I want you two to conceal your relationship from the villagers on Jumenjorg."

Astrid looked like she had been slapped, "What the Hel for!?" She wound up and threw a punch at Tyr's head.

The silver eyed man caught the fist like nothing happened, "Stop being immature, Astrid. You two are young, and both high on the looks scale. Hiccup, not sure how well you'll do, but Astrid will probably catch the eye of every boy within a hundred miles."

Astrid's eyes narrowed, "So what?"

"I've been speaking to Sharkshand and the Jumenjorg diplomats about how they do things over there."

Astrid's hands began to shake with fury, "What is your point Tyr!?"

"Shut up and listen. If one of the guys there decides that he wants you to be his wife, he has the right to try and woo you. If he knows that you have Hiccup already, then it is law there that he can challenge Hiccup to a duel for you. If he wins...well, you can guess."

Hiccup pulled Astrid into his chest, "So you want us to keep it a secret so I don't get my ass kicked?"

Tyr rolled his eyes, "Once again, shut up and listen. We're going to be running around looking for a witch. Last thing we need is a domestic love dispute and a fight between Hiccup and some hormonal monkey."

* * *

Astrid was still not happy about them keeping the fact that they are engaged a secret. She was more angry at Tyr for suggesting it than anything else. Seemed that she was always angry with him over something.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. It was foreign, cold; a friends hand, not a lovers. Nevertheless, the touch of his valkyrie gave him comfort and warmth.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm hoping that the speed of my life calms down so I can write more. Look forward to more! R&R**


	10. Split before the Start

**Hey guys! Been awhile since my last update, and I hope I haven't lost any readers due to my life and its stupid haste!**

**Regardless, I got a couple questions about Marcais and his last name.**

**Judicieux (French of course) means-knowledgeable, wise, fair, judicious. **

**FAIR WARNING!-There is a bit of hard language at the end of the chapter. You will know when it's coming.**

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That night at the feast, Murk took a great deal of time explaining the events leading up to the witches appearance. Astrid listened, but nothing really made sense to her. A jumbled mix of events, fights between townspeople and a weird looking storm cloud were the among the absolutely ridiculous reasons for a witch.

Jakka sat close to her husbands side, her eyes flashing nervously around the room. She had been as skittish as a frightened rabbit since walking out of her home, under escort, that evening. The various Berkians were spread around the room, making conversation where they fit in. Snotlout had made quick buddies with a red haired girl that Astrid had seen at the docks. Sharkshand and Marcais had struck up conversation with the dock foreman. Astrid's mother had been the one trying to comfort Jakka for the entire night.

Hiccup had gotten knee deep into blacksmith jargon with a man named Steeltoe. It was an easy guess as to why his name was Steeltoe, especially as a blacksmith.

At the current moment in time, Astrid and Tyr were off at a separate table with a man named Kagg Stromson. He had asked them to sit with him and have a chat.

"Miss Hofferson, Master Pretor, glad you could join me." Kagg said, bowing his head ever so slightly. Astrid bowed her head without saying anything.

Tyr didn't even bow his head, "Our pleasure, Captain. How can we help you?" He droned.

Kagg snapped his fingers at a boy nearby and flicked a mug, "Hey! Boy! Why is my mug empty?" The boy stuttered something undecipherable before scurrying off. Astrid narrowed her eyes and decided to run a little test.

"Tyr, can you get some mead for us?" She asked sweetly. Tyr looked at her, one eye brow cocked before getting up wordlessly. She watched him go as Kagg's voice wormed into her head, "Why did you ask him to get your mead? Are you his master?"

"Master?"

"Is he not your servant?" Kagg's eyes watched her expectantly.

"Of course not. We don't have servants on Berk; we're all equals." She replied. It was just as she thought; Kagg was arrogant. He believed himself to be above others.

"Well that seems foolish. Not everyone is equal, Miss Hofferson. You would do well to remember that."

"I'll keep it in mind." She replied curtly.

"Regardless, as the Captain of the Guard, I have certain concerns to think about."

"We aren't heavily armed in terms of weaponry, if that's what you mean." Tyr said, returning from the mead barrels. Astrid accepted a mug from him, "Thanks. Captain, we do not carry many weapons, any danger from us would come from our si-"

"Five dragons." Tyr interrupted quickly.

"Five dragons." Astrid confirmed. She would ask Tyr about this later. She thought they had six dragons. Hookfang, Barf and Belch, Meatlug, Toothless, Azure and Spectra.

"Er...alright, five dragons. What in terms of weapons?" Kagg asked, his eyes drifting to Astrid's belt. She knew he was eying the hilt of the dragon bone long blade Tyr had given her.

She drew it from her belt and held it up for him to see, "I carry this. Most of the others carry an iron dirk or dagger, but nothing larger. Sharkshand has a serrated harpoon on the ship, but he only uses it in defense."

Kagg nodded at her words, but his eyes were fixed to the long blade, "What is that? It looks like no metal I've ever seen."

Tyr motioned to Astrid to put the blade away. "When Astrid was younger, she was the adventurous type and enjoyed taking long walks along streams. One afternoon, she stumbled on a bear while it was feeding and found herself on the menu. The bear left her with a trophy. A jagged scar on her left hip, but she persevered. A well placed rock to the skull killed it instantly. That long blade was carved from one of the bears ribs." Tyr said.

Astrid blinked as she went over the story in her head. Her mouth hung wide about how _easily_ and _smoothly_ Tyr could lie. And without a twitch, a start, or a stutter.

Tyr obviously noticed her fly trap and tread on her foot, prompting her to shut her mouth and glare at him.

"That's quite a story. Miss Hofferson, would you mind proving the tale? May I see your hard won scar?" Kagg droned, mockery dripping in his voice. Astrid panicked; she had no scar!

Nervously, she pulled down the hem of her leggings to see a jagged, pink scar. Faint, but clear at the same time in her unmarred, glowing skin.

_Of course!_ She yelled at herself. Tyr had played in the scar that she had gotten after her run in with a crazed Nightmare. Kagg looked at the scar and whistled, "Well, when I told you that everyone is not equal, I obviously spoke truly, Mistress."

"This doesn't make me any better than the others. Tyr has more scars than this and so does Hiccup." She retorted. She really did not like this Kagg Stromsom. He acted like a god, spoke like a king, and plotted like a snake. Why would you measure someone according to their scars?

"Wait...Mistress? Why are you calling me that now?" She asked. Kagg cocked an eyebrow, "You are mighty, as it appears. You deserve the respect of a title. It should offend you that these dogs call you by name." He said plainly, gesturing at Tyr and over at Hiccup and the others.

"Don't you dare speak to them like that!" She hissed, placing a hand on the hilt of the long blade, fully intent on gutting this pompous waste of flesh.

Tyr jumped up in front of her and shoved her hand and the blade in it back into the sheath, "Now that we have discussed safety concerns, I think it is best we retire, Captain. We have a witch to hunt."

Kagg stood up tall, "Listen, Berkians. _Dragon Riders_. I run things on this island. You follow _my_ rules while you are here! You would do well to remember that, peasant!" Kagg tossed the remaining mead in his cup onto Tyr's tunic before stomping out of the Hall. Thankfully, nobody else seemed to notice the altercation.

"Wouldn't it be just awful if he were to be found dead tomorrow morning?" Tyr whispered innocently.

"No, Tyr. No killing anyone."

"Bah. Lets go talk to Murk and get some information about where to start. I want to be finished with this witch as soon as possible." He said, turning and making for the table where Murk sat with his wife and Ingrid. Astrid followed him, calling to the others. She arrived at the table to discover Tyr already speaking to Murk.

"You're diplomats spoke of small white spikes that were found after the witch was chased. Can we see them?" He asked. Murk shifted nervously for a minute before asking another boy to run and fetch these spikes.

Astrid watched this other servant run off obediently and felt a twinge in her stomach. The use of servants was a sour thought in her mind. To her, calling them servants was nothing more than a pretty name for a _slave_.

The boy soon returned carrying a small box. He placed it on the table and bowed to the chief before backing away slowly. Murk pushed the box in front of Tyr, "Here they are. Do with them what you wish. All they do for me is bring terrible memories. I must retire; Jakka is not safe here. Good night, and I will see you in the morning."

He and Jakka bowed their heads slightly and hurried out, surrounded by twenty guards. Astrid watched them go and felt another twinge in her stomach. If her and Hiccup were married and she became Chieftess, would he treat her with the some overriding concern? Would she be worth it?

Her thoughts were interrupted when a solidly drunk Snotlout started speaking, "She would be safer here with me than with those fifty guards! Right, Astrid?"

"There were twenty, shut up." She retorted. Tuffnut punched Snotlout on the shoulder, "They would be more safe with Tyr and I than with you! Right Tyr, ol' buddy?"

"Teamwork is better than being alone. You are right." Tyr commented, as he opened the box.

Astrid jumped as a hand slithered along her thigh, and then was gone. She whirled and cocked her fist, ready to smash whoever touched her. She stopped though as Hiccup's face greeted her, "Well, fancy meeting you here." He said with a sly smile.

She gleefully returned it, "And how do you fancy me beating your ass later? Eh?" She said threateningly. He walked past her, but she heard him whisper, "Sounds fun."

It was a good thing that nobody else was around to see Astrid's face go as red as the morning sun, or hear the inaudible squeak that emerged from her. Lewd and exciting thoughts rushed through her mind and she felt a wonderfully delicious warmth in her loins. Hiccup didn't even have to touch her to get make her want him more than a direct trip to Valhalla?

"Astrid."

What things he did to her between the sheets!

"Astrid."

How he made her feel!

"Astrid?"

Oh, what she would do to him tonigh-

"Astrid!"

"What!?" She yelled, annoyed that her luscious thoughts had been interrupted.

"You're...uh...thinking out loud." Tuffnut said slowly. Astrid looked at her friends and felt another scarlet blush rush onto her cheeks.

Hiccups face was the same color and he looked like he wanted to say something before a bark from Tyr pulled everyone to reality. Astrid sat down and looked at a man that was sitting across from Tyr in an attempt to diffuse the attention away from her a her burning nether region.

The man wore a fur cloak and carried an array of small weaponry at his belt. He looked every bit like a forester, a ranger type character.

"The last sighting was in this field. The very first sighting was in this gorge. As far as I could tell, it tended to stick to the cliffs by the coast until we cornered it and chased it inland. A constant watch has been placed at the coast, but nothing has been seen."

Tyr scratched his chin, "Well, seems a pretty wide area.. We'll spread out tomorrow and begin a search. Thanks." Tyr said, shaking the foresters hand. When the man left, Tyr turned to the gathered Berkians, "Alright, we have a range. Early tomorrow morning, we spread out to these spots. Hiccup, I leave the group making to you." Tyr sat down, nodding at Hiccup.

Hiccup stood up and mulled over something in his head before speaking up, "Alright, we'll cover more ground faster if we ride the dragons. Thorstons, you two are together obviously. Snotlout and Fishlegs, and then Astrid and I." He smiled and walked over to stand next to Astrid. She smiled back and had to seriously resist the urge to throw her arms around his neck and kiss his soft lips.

Why was she being so...mushy? All she wanted to do right now was be with him. And in more ways than one. This was unlike her.

She shook her head and tried to abandon such thoughts. They were here for a reason, and that reason was to hunt a demon. She may have fought one already, but it didn't make her eager to fight another.

Finally dispelling her odd feeling, her mind zoned back in on the conversation, "...in the long ship for tonight. To avoid a problem, we'll leave early in the morning on the dragons."

"How will that help?" Snotlout asked.

"Well, if the people see all the dragons out, then they'll panic and that won't help." Hiccup explained

"Uh, hey genius. That does absolutely nothing. What about when we get back?" Ruffnut sneered, shaking her head.

"Well, er...I actually didn't think about when we get back..." Hiccup said, his shoulders falling.

Tuffnut dumped a mug of mead on his sister, "Nice job smart ass, you stole his fire!" The typical Thorston melee ensued, mugs and fists flying. Ingrid went to stop the argument, but Astrid put her hand in front of her mother, "Let them fight it out. They'll start again in a minute anyway."

A light clearing throat behind them made everyone turn, "If you would like, Hiccup, I can explain to the people about the dragons before you return." The old man said smoothly. Despite his age, the man looked every bit like a young adventurer being charged with an important task.

"That would be great, Marcais! You could explain to them about how to act and such!" Hiccup exclaimed.

Astrid couldn't help but interject, "Hold on. Marcais, how much do you know about the dragons?"

The old man cocked an eyebrow at her, and she suddenly wondered if she had offended him. If she had, she didn't mean to. Mostly, dragon lessons had been the last thing on the to do list for Berk.

Regardless of his initial expression, Marcais put on a smile, "Well, a lovely young lady by the name of Gemeye has been answering my many questions about the creatures while she helps me carry groceries."

A lustful sigh emerged from a beat up Tuffnut, who had just recently lost the fight with his sister. Astrid rolled her eyes; she didn't like Gemeye all that much. Felt that the girls eyes were on Hiccup a bit too much.

"As such, I have gleaned quite a supply of information about them. Fishlegs was kind enough to fill in the blanks on the voyage." Marcais closed his eyes and dipped his head at Fishlegs, who mumbled a reply that went unnoticed.

"Alright then, we leave early. Marcais, if you could speak to the chief and get the people together two hours after noon, that's when we'll get back." Hiccup declared.

"As I said before, we'll have to spend the night on the long ship so we can take off from there. We leave at dawn." Tyr said, gulping down a last mug of mead and making for the door.

"Tyr!"

He turned and nodded, "Yes, Astrid?" She ran up to him and stood on her toes to get by his ear, but he still had to bend over. "We have to talk later. Meet me on the deck on the long ship in an hour."

He hummed agreement and flashed an innocent look at Hiccup. She immediately understood his meaning, "Private conversation. You and me." He nodded silently and left.

XXX

Tyr closed the door to his small room carefully. Despite his effort, the old wood of the ship creaked terribly.

"Stupid wood..." He mumbled. It was just about time to meet Astrid for this private conversation. As much as he hated it, he knew what it was about. Or thought he did. Hopefully he was wrong. The feeling had been plaguing him for a few days.

It was going to take a demonic amount of restraint for him to relax through this conversation.

How much he hated his intuition.

Reaching the deck, his skin grew hot and and his temper flared. Oh, he knew _exactly _what this conversation was about.

"Nice night, isn't it?" Astrid said from where she was sitting. Tyr mumbled his agreement before heading over to the pile of shipping ropes where she sat

"Yeah. What can I do for you?" He said through gritted teeth. The feeling was like molten metal being poured onto his skin. Being this close, it actually hurt.

"I kept this a secret for a long time, but I think you should know in case I need to use it." Her voice trembled and her eyes searched his. He knew that when the Drakonicus started acting up, his eyes shifted and warped. That was probably what she was looking for.

"Are you aware of the effect the crystal has on me?" He asked tersely. This was not going to be enjoyable.

"Milaki told me. Before I killed the Dra...before I sealed that demon back awa-"

"So knowing that, what the fuck did you bring it!?" He yelled, his face and silver eyes inches away from hers.

Her eyes grew as fiery angry as his, "If something happened and you went bat shit insane, we would need to use it! To stop you from fucking killing everybody!"

His anger only grew, "So what are you going to do? Huh? Tie the crystal around my neck and drag me by a leash!?"

She raised the volume of her own voice to match his own roar, "I just want everyone to be safe! It only made sense to bring it! Do you not understand what you are capable of!?" She screamed, stabbing a finger into his chest.

"What do you mean me? Do you mean what the demon is capable of!? I didn't ask for him, Astrid!"

"I know you didn't! I just don't want something to happen and put everyone in danger!"

"What could possibly happen, Astrid? What could possibly be so bad that _he_ could come out and play?" He bellowed. His blood was rushing through his veins, and face was red with anger. His usually calm temperament had been entirely obliterated.

"I know that you have attacks, Tyr. You have moments when your body fails you. Sometimes you get wobbl-"

"So what!?" What the hell was she getting at?

"So I don't want your fucking weakness to kill everybody! That's what!"

He could only stand in stunned silence, and stare. Her eyes had instantly, as soon as the words left her mouth, gone from burning braziers of doom to wide, and unbelieving. Her mouth stood in a straight line, partially covered by her trembling fingers.

He couldn't believe her words. Did she truly think so little of him? Was he such as danger to people that he was pretending to make a life with? His mind roiled and churned. His mouth unable to form cohesive words.

He heard thundering feet against the wood of the boat. He could not deal with the words of the others as well as hers.

"Tyr! No, sto-"

Her words were lost to him as his head broke through the surface of the water. Thank the gods the water was salty. It allowed him to imagine that he wasn't feeling tears form in his eyes.

XXX

"Astrid! Astrid, what happened up here?" Sharkshand whispered as loud as he possibly could. He, wielding his serrated steel harpoon was followed closely by Fishlegs and Hiccup, each wielding a smaller harpoon.

She couldn't bear to answer Sharkshand. Her mind was still processing what she had done, what she had said. Nothing about her plan included that screaming match.

Wait a minute. He started the screaming match, not her! He yelled first. This was his fault!

"Nothing, Sharkshand. Tyr just flipped his shit is all. He'll be back. Lets go to bed. Long day tomorrow."

She said these words confidently. The fight _was_ Tyr's fault, not hers. Still though.

Some part of her remained concerned.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please read and review and feel free to ask any questions!**


	11. Darkness Begins

**Hey Guys! This chapter reads pretty dull in the field of action, but a decent amount of plot starts here. **

* * *

Hiccup closed the door to the stockroom carefully. He had just replaced the harpoons he and Fishlegs were wielding when they heard the screaming on the ships deck. Sharkshand had gone to bed already, and Astrid had retreated to her own room.

While she said she wanted to be left alone, Hiccup was not going to do that. If she didn't want to be disturbed, tough shit. He was spending the night with her. Who knows who heard the little spat between her and Tyr. He knows that the two of them fought. She never took it well when they did.

Whenever her and Tyr fought, she got intense nightmares. The kind of nightmares that made you think a banshee had gotten loose. Most times, half the village would be awake and at their front door by the time Hiccup woke her up.

Never once had it resulted in anything more than headaches all round, but it was a phenomena that Hiccup was trying to understand.

"Hiccup."

The quiet voice didn't startle him in the least, "Hi Marcais."

The old mans face was riddled with concern when Hiccup turned around. His eyes were wide and flashed around fitfully. After a moment, he spoke, "Did Miss Astrid get into a fight with Tyr?"

Hiccup nodded solemnly. They both knew what the night held for them. If Astrid's nightmares came, then this whole journey would get much, much harder.

Not to mention deadly.

"We will worry about the repercussions of that when we need to. Right now, we need to talk to the others. Can you get the Thorstons out here while I get Snot and Fish?" Hiccup asked softly. The older people were sleeping. Ingrid, although not officially Hiccup's mother-in-law had taken to the role with gusto. He was not eager to wake her up.

After five minutes of quite speaking and moving, Hiccup stood with Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins.

"Alright guys. Problem time." Hiccup started.

"Already? We haven't even friggen started..." Ruffnut grumbled. Hiccup knew that this news would not go over well, but it had to be done.

Hiccup cleared his throat, "Astrid and Tyr had a fight earlie-"

He couldn't even finish before the groaning and swearing began. Twice he had to hiss to get them to quiet down before they replaced enough for him to continue the conversation, "Yes, I'm sorry. Astrid is asleep, but Tyr is M.I.A. Tomorrow, plan is the same, but keep your eyes peeled for Tyr as well."

The groans and moans continued as the Hiccups fellow riders went back to bed. He himself shook his head. This was exactly the wrong time for those two to have flaring tempers. He had no idea what made them so hostile when near each other recently, but it had to stop.

He carefully padded back to Astrid's room, and found her sleeping contently. Her chest rose and fell in the thin wool shirt she wore to bed every day. Her hair, not braided and untied fell in a beautiful mess around her face, where her lips formed a thin line. The only thing that would make this image more beautiful is if he could see her amazing, icy blue eyes.

His eyes fell on her hand. When Tyr had asked that they keep their relationship a secret, he also asked that Astrid stop wearing the wedding ring Hiccup had made her. It made sense, but she hated it. So, as a small act of defiance, she said she would never, ever sleep without it.

As he was smiling, his eyes drifted over to the porthole where saw the white moon shining. Which was really odd, because there were two moons tonight. Really small too. They flashed every now and then, like a cover was being pulled over them for a split second and then drawn back. Weird.

He turned away and began to undress, pulling his shirt off and shedding his trousers. Lifting the furs carefully, he slid in and immediately, Astrid sought his warmth, scooting over and cuddling into his chest.

He looked back to the moon. He must be really damn tired. There was one big moon again, and this one didn't flicker. Oh well.

XXX

The wind felt good in his hair, and Toothless was ecstatic to be off the ship at last. All the dragons were. It had taken Hiccup and the rest at least fifteen minutes longer to saddle up because the dragons wriggled with excitement.

It had now been all morning, and Hiccup had not seen a single thing worth noting. Lots of trees. Lots of rivers. Lots of cliffs. No sign of witch or Tyr.

Not that he actually believed they would find Tyr. Not that he really cared either way. Tyr could take care of himself.

At the current moment, Hiccup wasn't concerned with the witch either. He and Toothless had been trailing Azure and Astrid for the whole day. Hiccup told himself to go looking for helpful clues, but the idea that Astrid ran into the witch and got hurt?

Way to much for him to handle.

They had split into pairs for this first day of searching, and it only made sense to split up the pairs so more ground could be covered, and that's why Hiccup was now following her.

With every twitch, every turn that Azure made, he had a small heart attack. Once he had thought that she fell off her dragon. Then again. Then again. Then every single time Azure did _anything_, he thought she fell off.

With about an hour left in the days searching, something caught Toothless' attention and he took off in the other direction, "Hey! Toothless turn around!" Hiccup yelled, pointing frantically. The Night Fury was having none of it though.

"Where are you going? Toothless! Turn around!" The dragon whipped its ear back across Hiccup's cheek. The chestnut haired boy took gesture as a 'shut up' and did exactly that, but soon figured out what Toothless was onto.

Something was in the air. Something terrible. The smell told what type of thing it was, but Hiccup was not expecting what he found.

Toothless landed in a small canyon, next to a river. The canyon couldn't have gone more than a mile, end to end, but it was wide. A rip in the landscape. The river was shallow, but it ran decently quick. That is until it reached a small pond ringed with willow trees. _Huge_ willow trees.

A small campfire burned at the far side, where a figure sat draped in a pitch black cloak. As Hiccup came closer, he saw that it was an old man sitting on a log, slowly turning fish over the fire.

"Excuse me?" He said nervously. He didn't want to startle the poor man. He was probably a hermit and didn't get too much company.

The old man didn't budge. "Um...Excuse me? I was just wondering if...uh..." Hiccup fizzled out again when the old man didn't move. It was like the guy didn't even recognize Hiccup standing there. Much less Toothless splashing around in the lake like a hatchling.

"Have you seen a man with a purple headband?" Hiccup asked finally, just blurting the words out before he could stop himself. Once again, the cloaked elder sat there in silence. Not a muscle moved, not even a twitch.

Hiccup huffed in annoyance and stomped away, "Let's go Toothless! We have to get back to the village!"

* * *

The man watched the boys back as it climbed onto the Night Fury. His old eyes didn't see anymore, but he saw more than anyone. He sniffed the air twice then smiled, "Well...Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Curious, finding you here now. Curious indeed."

XXX

Fishlegs sat alone at a table in the Great Hall, inspecting the box that Murk had handed out the night before. Inside, seven long spikes lay on a bed of wool. Apparently, the Witch had killed six men with these when they trapped it inland.

Tyr thought they would hold some significance, but as Tyr isn't here, Fishlegs decided to look.

The large boy had been the first to return on Meatlug from the days searching, and he found absolutely nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary that is. He found a wonderful array of native dragons though. Jumenjorg had Gronckles and Zipplebacks, but no Nadders, Nightmares and certainly no Night Furies. Nevertheless, he saw huge packs of Terrors, evidence of Burrowing Slitherfangs and more than a few Blubberwings.

When speaking to the villagers, he found that both Exterminators and Fire Dragons had been sighted here in the past. Such a menagerie of dragons was rather thrilling for him.

He was about to return to his inspection when someone plopped a mug of mead next to him. Looking up, he found the slightly annoyed face of Astrid, "Well, you had as much success as me then." He commented, looking back at the contents of the box.

Astrid huffed, "Well, that and Azure threw a bloody fit about something. Took me a good half hour to calm her down. The landing outside didn't help either." She grumbled. Fishlegs had to smile at that revelation, even though he agreed with her about the landing.

He gave all the credit in the world to Marcais, the man had done splendid with his explanations of dragons. That wasn't the problem though. When Fishlegs came down with Meatlug, the people freaked. Didn't help that she weighed nearly three tons and rolled like a boulder when she was tired. Took some hasty explanations to Murk about why three of his market stalls near the Great Hall were in ruins, and why a 14 foot long living boulder was sleeping in one of them.

"What was Azure lose her scales about?" He asked absentmindedly, picking up one of the white spikes to take a closer look at.

Astrid gulped down more mead, "We got near some weird looking forest and she started shrieking and squawking. Wouldn't go anywhere near the place."

"Weird looking? How so?" Fishlegs inquired.

"Well, the trees were all bare and dead but that's about it. I couldn't see anything else because I was too far away." She answered.

Fishlegs chuckled and continued his inspection. The white spikes were like nothing he had ever seen. Each one was straight, with a flat bottom and a needle point tip. There was no handle or counter weight, meaning only one thing.

These were made to fly perfectly. Something that was next to impossible in the natural world. All along each one were intricate carvings and lettering that looked all too impossible to be natural.

Fishlegs had gone and asked Murk how many of these they had found, but the story was disappointing. Murk said that each time the witch attacked, these were thrown in multitudes, but after, the spikes were always gone. These were apparently the only ones that had not disappeared.

A ruckus rolled into the Hall at that moment, but Fishlegs didn't have to turn around to see who it was.

"Your fat behind slowed us down!"

"Your dumb head led us in circles!" The twins were back from their day. Astrid told them to shut up and come over, "Did you guys see anything weird out there today? Did Barf and Belch act funny at all?" She asked. They both said no before starting to fight again on the way to the mead barrels.

Astrid sighed, taking a seat next to Fish, "Lets hope Snotlout and Hiccup had better days."

"Astrid, I'm sure you mean did Hiccup have a better day." He corrected.

"What do you mean? I meant exactly what I said." She said, a bit of surprise in her voice. Fishlegs smiled, "Well, seeing as Snotlout has been here all day, I would say that he didn't find anything except that girls tongue." Fishelgs said, pointing over to a corner table where Snotlout was tonsil deep with some girl.

Astrid screamed and sprinted over. Fishlegs cringed as he heard the sounds of metal hitting person, wood hitting person, person hitting person. Then something snapped. It was either Snotlout's leg, or the table.

A smiling Astrid returned and sat down with a resounding thud, "Pent up frustrations all gone?" Fish ventured.

She laughed, "Yeah. I got to beat something up, so I'm happy now." He laughed and shook his head. The crew that he spent one hundred percent of his time with were a bunch of loons. He loved them all.

"Astrid, come look at these. Have you seen anything like them?" He asked, passing one of the spikes to Astrid. He watched as she admired the carvings, turning the spike over in her hands.

"No, never. Have you?" She answered, handing the spike back.

"No. I can't tell what its made from either. All these carvings mess up any texture reading I could get." Fishlegs was telling the ever frustrating truth. He was a fact man, the information expert, his forte being facts and yet he still could not discern what these spikes were made from.

After fussing for ten more minutes, he mentally noted that Astrid had not said anything. He looked over and blinked twice to make sure he saw correctly.

She had buried her long blade into the table and was now resting her head on her knuckles, staring at it. Fish risked a smile, "Missing someone, are we?"

She sighed, "Oh Fish. Have you ever cared about somebody _so_ much, but really have no way of telling or showing them?"

"Do you mean Hiccup?"

"No! I mean Tyr! I love him like I do my brother Hodr, but I have no clue how to...I don't know, tell him! I know it looks bad, but whenever I see him I just get mad and push him off!"

"You know, if I didn't know that you were more in love with Hiccup than Thor is with Mjollnir, this would get very awkward. Astrid, you don't need to tell Tyr anything. Just don't use him for a doormat every three seconds."

She looked back at the blade, "Well, it sounds good in theory, but I never figure it out in person. Do you go through this feeling, Fishlegs?"

Fishlegs sighed deeply and searched the Hall. His eyes settled on the back of an arguing Ruffnut Thorston. Her blonde hair fell to her buttocks and her thin, minutely curvy body shone like the sun to him.

"Every day, Astrid. Every day."

XXX

Hiccup rolled his shoulders as he walked into the Hall. The rest of the day had been utterly boring and stressful after his run in with the old man. His landing in the village went down terribly, but judging by the scene of the landing zone, the others hadn't had much luck either.

The square where they were to land was a warzone. Several market stalls had been crushed by a sleeping Meatlug, Azure had put a single fire ball through six walls, and Toothless almost ate a small child because he thought the girl was a fish. How the Night Fury made such a mistake, Hiccup might never know.

He quickly found Fishlegs and Astrid sitting at a table by themselves. He could hear the Thorstons somewhere, but he couldn't see Snotlout. Coming around the table, he noticed Astrid staring longingly at the long blade.

Fishlegs was just putting a white spike back into the box that held the other six, "Oh, hello Hiccup!" He said animatedly.

"Well hey there! Did you have any finds today?" He replied. It was hard sometimes not to be pulled into Fish and his constant good mood.

"Other than interesting dragons, nothing. Astrid didn't have much luck either. Snotlout didn't even go out."

"What? Didn't go out?" Hiccup asked. There was some good news.

Astrid picked her head off the table, "Yeah. Decided that tangling tongues with some local girl was more important."

Hiccup cocked an eyebrow at her, "Did you get to him first, or Fishlegs?"

Fishlegs shook his head, "Oh no, I didn't do anything at all. She, however, beat the daylights out of him."

Astrid grinned from ear to ear, "It felt so good, too!" Hiccup had to laugh. His raucous group was crazy, but they were his friends.

"Astrid, did anything weird happen today?" He asked. He seemed sure that he wasn't the only one to find the old man in his gorge.

"Well, for the most part no. At one point, Azure freaked out and wouldn't go anywhere near this patch of forest that looked all dead and rotted. Other than that, nothing." Interesting. So Azure freaked out about something too.

"Well, I think tomorrow I'm going to go scope out those tre-"

"No. You're not going anywhere." Hiccup said firmly. Astrid got an offended look, "And why not?"

"You just told me that Azure freaked out about something. Not safe for you to fly if Azure could randomly drop you. So you are not searching anymore."

"And why should I listen to you?"

He kept a calm and collected demeanor while he spoke, showing no signs of indecisiveness or nervousness, "Because I am your boss on this trip."

Astrid's eyebrows furrowed and her tone got low and dangerous, "Just you listen here, _boss._ I'm going out searching tomorrow, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!" She growled.

"There is, and I will do it. Please don't make this hard. I don't want you out there with a witc-"

"And you think _I _want _you_ out there with a witch!?" She said furiously, her voice rising. Fishlegs was squirming in his seat, "Can you two postpone this conversation for later please? We're attracting attention!"

Astrid acted first, getting out of the bench without breaking eye contact, "Yes, _boss_, why don't we go outside?" She said hotly, her tone dripping with mockery.

Hiccup followed her quick step outside and down a side road, away from people, "Just what the fuck was that? My _boss_!?" She hissed. He went to place his hands on her shoulders, but was painfully swatted away, "Please Astrid! I want you to be safe! If Azure is tweaking out, then it's not safe!"

Her bright eyes could have bored holes in steel, "What?! Have our dragons never dropped us before, Hiccup? Have they never accidentally nipped us in our sleep?"

She grabbed his tunic and ripped it up, revealing a subtly muscled chest...covered in scars, "You have your share of scars Hiccup! I have my own scars, and all the others have theirs! Mine isn't even natural!"

She referred to the scar Tyr's medicine gave her, "We are not children anymore, Hiccup! I'm not going to die from scraping my knee on the ground!" Her hiss had gotten the tone of a woman truly offended.

"Astrid, that's not what I'm sayi-"

"Then what are you saying? Hm?" She interrupted, crossing her arms on her chest and cocking one hip to the side.

"I'm saying that things are going to get dangerous an-"

"So why am I not allowed to be near dangerous?" She asked abruptly. Hiccup was starting to get frustrated. Her constant nagging and absolute rejecting of what he was trying to do for her was awful.

"Because you are everything to me! I don't want to lose yo-"

"Do you think I want to lose you? Huh? Do you think I want to be sitting in that Hall when Fishlegs brings me your mangled body? Do you think you are the only one who has something to lose? What if one of the others dies? Hm? Will it be less of a loss because it wasn't me? Will you feel bad about not keeping them cooped up here away from the danger, like me? Hiccup, I might get hurt, but I could also save someones life."

He rubbed his temples, "Astrid, we could be way out of our leagu-"

"_Out of our league_!? Hiccup, you killed a dragon the size of a mountain! I fought a demon and won! I don't care what this Flaming Bitch has in store for us. I'm going out searching tomorrow."

"No you're not!" He yelled at her back. She whirled and put her face close to his.

"Watch me!" She screamed into his face before stomping away. He watched her receding back her with increasing anger. He was trying to protect her! And she just spat on his wishes!

She even went as far as to try and say that he wouldn't be devastated if one of the others were killed! What kind of selfish bullshit act was that! She did say that she was going out searching tomorrow whether he liked it or not. Well.

He didn't like it, and it wasn't going to happen. Hiccup knew exactly what to do. Thanks Tyr.

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**Well I hope you enjoyed it! I will be updating as much as I possibly can! I have a request to do, and I plan on doing a fathers day chapter as well! If you yourself have any ideas you would like to see happen, please let me know! Read and Review! Thanks!**


	12. The Keeper Arc, Introduction

**Hey Guys! This is technically a filler for the current arc, but it's a preview for you about ish to come! There is one single bit of important plot relevant to the Witch Arc. Hint: It's in Tyr's section.**

**Along with some amusing jargon between Tyr and his demon :) Enjoy!**

**Again, between the XXxXX's is a big description that is being told to Astrid.**

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Tyr sighed heavily as he tromped through the dark woods. It was the second day since his fight with Astrid, and he was actually having a good time doing nothing. Which was a complete lie.

He had, in his angered delirium, remembered why he was on Jumenjorg in the first place. He had pointed himself in the general direction of where the witch had last been seen. He just wasn't moving very fast.

He sat down in a small clearing and rested his back against a fallen tree. Occasionally, he felt like being immature. There were a couple people he could talk too, but seeing as most of his ancestors were still angry with him, that left one person. Admittedly, he wanted to destroy humanity, but he couldn't do anything from where he was.

"Hey ugly."

"_What?_"

"Oh, you respond to that name?" Tyr chuckled. His smile widened as the growl rolled through his mind.

"_What do you want, human?_"

"Aww, is the big scary demon upset because Astrid whipped his ass?" Pestering the Drakonicus was as immature as Tyr could get.

"_What do you want from me, Pretor!?_" The demon roared.

"Nothing. I just want to bug you. Nothing else to do right now." Tyr answered. The demon roared and screamed for a good ten minutes before quieting once more. Talking to the Drakonicus was something completely new for Tyr. For years, he had believed that communication between himself and the demon impossible, or too dangerous to do.

Before Astrid decided to bring that cursed crystal, Tyr had been free of its painful and mitigating influence. As such, he had been able to test his limits with the demon without setting it free.

The farthest he'd gotten was being able to converse with it freely. Not that it happened that much.

"_That's not why you speak to me, Keeper. As much as I hate you, what do you want. The faster I tell you, the faster you leave me be." _The dragon hissed. Tyr smiled as he silently cheered for victory. Annoying the beast was the best way to get it to talk. "I have a riddle for you: I am beautiful, I am strong, I a-"

"_Shaiya._"

"You're no fun."

"_Let me free and you'll see how fun I can be!_" It roared.

"See, that's better. That rhymed!"

"_What do you want, human!?"_ It screeched. Tyr's eyes hardened as he thought carefully, "How many demons are on this island?"

"_Two. Now leave me alone._" It muttered. Tyr was sure that it would not talk to him anymore, so he left it alone. Time to talk to someone else.

"Mother?" He asked the air. He hoped that she wasn't as mad as she was a few weeks ago. Maybe she would be in a mood to speak to him. Apparently not.

"I know you can hear me, Mother. I understand if you are too angry to speak with me, but please. Watch over Astrid for me." Still no response.

He grunted and settled comfortably on the ground.

"Good night, Mother." He mumbled.

XXX

Astrid stalked around a back storeroom of the long ship, anger still coursing through her.

"First, your brother acts like a fool, then Hiccup gets all commander on me!" She screamed at Kia's ghostly form.

Upon returning to the ship, Astrid found a desperate need for someone to vent to. Seeing as she was alone on the ship, she called Kia to come and speak to her. The girl had been more than happy to do so, even though she thought Astrid was having mood swings.

"Calm down, Astrid. Nobody died." Kia said, watching the blonde pace like a wild animal.

"Someone could die, Kia! That's why I'm so mad! Tyr is out there alone with a Witch!" Astrid said, exasperated. In just the first day and a half, they had lost Tyr, Hiccup and Astrid were fighting, and Snotlout had his brain in his pants. Things could hardly get worse.

"Are you concerned about Tyr, Astrid? That's so cute!" Kia said in the most cutesy voice she could muster.

"Yes I'm concerned about him! I doubt he's concerned about the rest of us, but I am conce-"

"He is concerned." Astrid turned to this new voice and felt her jaw hit the deck. Standing in front of her was a tall woman, draped in royal purple robes with hair that was blacker than Toothless' scales.

"Particularly about you, young Astrid." The woman finished. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, and her face wore a sincere smile.

Behind her, Astrid heard spluttering and the mumbled attempts at speaking. Kia was clearly having trouble with something. Astrid backed up and took a seat next to the wide eyed spirit, "Who is this?" She whispered.

Kia immediately dropped to the floor and bowed, beckoning for Astrid to do the same. Once she joined Kia on the ground, she whispered again, "Who is this, Kia?"

"This is...er.."

"I am Murianya Pretor, the former Matriarch of Clan Pretor."

"...Mine and Tyr's mother." Kia finished. Astrid stared wide eyed at the tall woman. So this was the famous 'Mother' that Tyr spoke about pretty often. Except for one thing.

"Tyr always says that you're a mean old hag." Astrid said, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. Murianya's eyes flickered for a moment, but their calm demeanor didn't go away.

"When it comes to my son...I must use...vicious, tactics sometimes." The woman said calmly. She beckoned Astrid over, "We must have a discussion, you and I."

"About what?" Astrid ventured. Things were getting serious, she could tell from Kia's buffeting silence.

"About your life." Murianya said with a smile.

Kia stepped in front of Astrid, "Mother, please! I know what YipYip has been saying and I thi-"

"YipYip has been dealt with, Kia. Nothing terrible will befall Astrid. Now, give me some privacy with your ha-"

"No! Don't say it mother!"

"She is about to find out Kia. About everything." Murianya said, he face getting an annoyed look on it.

"Really? Oh...good luck, Astrid. We'll talk soon." Kia said before vanishing. Astrid watched her go with apprehension; if she could guess correctly, some character named YipYip had things to say about her. Negative things, nonetheless. Now, Astrid was alone with the _Matriarch_ of clan Pretor. Holy shit, was she scared.

"Relax, Astrid. Allow me to ask: Would your family hurt you?" Astrid gulped and shook her head.

"Well, we are family, so we will not hurt you."

"Hang on. We're family? How's that? Wait again, why isn't he telling me this?"

The woman flicked her black hair to one side of her neck and smoothed it down, "We have all borne witness to your fiery temper. A general consensus said that you would kill him before he got three minutes into the explanation.." Astrid considered the woman's words for a moment and nodded. It did make sense.

"So when did I become...uh...family?" The Matriarch took a seat on some crates.

"A time that I do not know exactly. Tyr helped you after you were attacked by a dragon. From what I know, he spread some medicine on a wound you received. His own blood was mixed with that medicine."

"His own blood..."

"So now his blood courses through your veins."

"Meaning..."

"That you are now related to him."

"Making me..."

"A half blood Keeper, and a member of Clan Pretor." Murianya finished. Placing her hands on her lap.

"You were right."

"About what?"

"I am going to kill him." Astrid said with finality. Murianya shook her head, "Normally, I would tell you to give it your best shot. However, you are deeper in than you think."

Astrid rolled a barrel over before standing it up. She sat down and fixed her eyes on the woman before her, "What do you mean?"

"Settle in. This is a long story."

XXxXX

"Let me teach you, young one, about the Keepers. The Raksaka. The Dānava Rakhavālōṁ. Demon Guardians. These are the various names we were known by, among many others.

Three thousand years ago, a small tribe flourished under the shadow of a great mountain. The mountain bore crystals in its caverns, and the people discovered that these crystals affected them in unnatural ways. Some crystals healed, while other bestowed great strength, and more yet had effects that are lost in time.

At some point, the village was set upon by an evil dragon. As it approached, the sky turned red and fire fell from the heavens. During this battle, the chief of the village, a man named Deyọ Matyvannytii discovered that the beast was weakened by the thing that it was.

He used a spear crafted from dragon bone to weaken the beast. While it was unable to act, he struck it through the heart while resting his hand on a giant Black Crystal found in the depths of the mountain, forever trapping it within.

Over the next thirty years, the young chief and his people carved a temple in the depths of the mountain. Inside this temple they placed the crystal. To help in its defense, Deyọ imparted his knowledge of martial arts and expertise with the battlestave and trained the first generation of The Raksaka. Of the Keepers.

Over the next thousand years, the Raksaka refined their skills into an art form and lifestyle. At the age of two, each child began training to defend the demon.

As such, several clans were established to maintain order. Each clan held a specific role that their children would be forever trained for.

Clan Jiiya. Masters of combat. Children of this clan maintained peace within the community and stood guard in the depths of Mount Houder.

Clan Noyii. Masters of craftsmanship and art. The original designs for dragon bone weaponry were drawn up by Maya Noyii, and thus her clan was assigned that task.

Clan Hyasa. Masters of the hunt. This clan was filled with men and women of great bloodlust and deadly ambition, and to avoid unnatural killing of others, were assigned to hunt.

Clan Pretor. Masters of Ancestry and Progeny. As the other clans had their duties, one of the duties of clan Pretor was to keep balance with the spirit world, and make sure that each clan would bear healthy sons and daughters to continue defending the demon.

From the time of the First, it had been decided that the hunger and ambition of men was too much to maintain. Two thousand years ago, after the chieftain Meyzan Hyasa attempted to release the dragon in the hopes of controlling it, it was decreed that the four clans be led by a Matriarch and that a council be formed of those four.

The council would vote, and if three votes were of similar merit, then that action would be taken. The system only failed once in its two thousand year lifetime.

XXxXX

"Only failed once?" Astrid wondered aloud. She was taking all this in surprisingly well.

"Eighteen years ago. The council failed to make a critical decision, and because of it, we are all dead." Murianya said, her eyes set on the floor.

"What was the decision? Eighteen years ago you were still alive, and you said that you are Matriarch of Clan Pretor, so you must have been there." Astrid reasoned. The shame that was shining through the spirits eyes was heavy and palpable. Astrid kind of wished she hadn't even brought this up.

"A young, dashing sailor came to the village and asked to see the fabled Dānava Temple. The council turned him away and took him captive. Nobody outside was to know of the temple, yet he did. A vote was taken to execute him, but the vote ended at 2 votes a side. He walked free, and the next year the catastrophe took place." She choked the last words out, a great pain obviously plaguing her.

"What was his name?"

Murianya looked ashamed as she spoke, "Captain Soram Hexo." Astrid decided to let the subject die there. Murianya, despite being a spirit seemed to be...crying. Or whatever spirits do that is similar.

She sat quietly and waited for the Matriarch to compose herself, "That aside, I told you that you are in for far more than you think. It is time for you to know how."

Astrid could feel herself leaning towards Murianya, her curiosity gnawing at her every nerve. She wanted to know!

"Each clan has a Matriarch, Astrid. That you know. A living woman of each Clan is elected Matriarch by the other women."

"Alright. What does that have to do with me?"

"Think, Astrid. Think carefully about what I have told you this night."

Astrid ran through the various facts about Matriarchs that had been thrown into her lesson. Nothing really took hold specifically. She knew that a living member of a clan who was a woman could be named Matriarch, that the clan had to obey her at all times, blah blah blah.

As she ran thoughts through her mind, a completely ludicrous idea hit her. Then she ran the facts again. And again.

"No..."

"Yes, Astrid." She ran it over again in her mind, just to be sure she wasn't insane.

"No way..."

"Yes, Astrid." This couldn't be happening.

"You said that Tyr's blood runs through my veins..."

"Making you a Pretor, and a Keeper."

"And if I'm a Pretor, then Tyr and I are the last Pretors alive..."

"Indeed, and you are a woman."

"And if I'm the only living woman of Clan Pretor..." Oh dear Odin, Thor and any other god willing to listen.

"You, Astrid Hofferson, are the new Matriarch of Clan Pretor."

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it! The Keeper Arc will begin after the Witch Arc finishes. I know I'm kinda mean for putting this preview in and then making you wait for the Keeper Arc, but this idea was really bugging me and I needed to write it.**

**As for the length of the Witch Arc, I ask my readers. I can do two more long chapters, or three chapters. Let me know in reviews or PM's!**


	13. Capture

**Hey Guys! I dearly apologize for the wait. My girlfriend surprised me with a two week vacation from the north, so all writing came to a screeching halt. There is some history in here but have no fear! At the end of the chapter, there is a brief section explaining the historical figures and why they fit in. The next chapter will conclude the Witch Arc! **

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Hiccup took off on Toothless early the next morning. He had slept on the deck of the long ship and had the Night Fury stay with him. If he and Astrid fought, she was never the one out of the bed. Not that he would ever kick her out anyway.

He didn't want to be around the village this morning when she woke anyway. He didn't much care how angry she would be when he got back. She would be alive, and that would be enough for him. This forest was far too dangerous for her.

He was flying out towards the area that Azure freaked out over. A random patch of dead trees, according to Fishlegs. After the fight with his beloved, Hiccup turned to the large boy for information on the location of the patch. After referencing with a map, they pinned a probable location.

Toothless seemed aware that Hiccup was upset, and as such kept his playing to a bearable minimum, at least where his rider was concerned.

He had not slept well. That much was certain and definite. Hiccup had dreams that bordered on insanity. Mixed jumbles of images and thoughts, chaotic twisters of words and voices that he could not begin to sort.

He had never, ever had dreams like this before. It made no sense. There was no way that it was natural. If it was, he would have gone through it before in the now twenty winters he'd been alive. Then again, there are things he knows now that were myth to him five seasons ago.

Flying again cooled his mind and helped him relax. Toothless drifted lazily on updrafts and air currents coming off the ocean. No matter how relaxing though, Hiccup kept thinking about what he'd done that morning. Astrid was quite literally going to _hate_ him for it. But for her safety, he would kill Odin if need be.

Scanning the forests below, his eyes fell on the small canyon where he had found the old man. He banked Toothless towards it, fully intent on making the old man realize he is there. Why he felt like doing it, who knows.

Landing nearby, he jumped off Toothless and walked into the clearing. Across the pond, exactly where he had been over twenty four hours ago, was the old man.

Except, he wasn't fishing. He was standing, his long white beard blowing slightly in a breeze that came from bloody nowhere, and a long redwood staff in his right hand.

Hiccup met the mans eyes and his heart skipped a beat. Pure white. There was no pupil. At all. He slowed his approach, but the old man waved to him.

"Can I help you, boy?" His voice was strangely young sounding. Not like an old mans croak. Hiccup came to a stop at two arm lengths from the odd old man.

"Uh...yeah. I'm looking for a friend, and a Flaming Witch that has been here. I'm sure you've heard the rumors."

The old man looked down at the ground for a moment before returning his ghostly orbs to Hiccup, "A friend, you say? Or an enemy? Perhaps both?"

What the hell? "Uh...yes and no. I'm looking for a friend, and an enemy. Do yo-"

"Can a friend be an enemy as well? Or does an enemy become a friend? What do you think?" The old man's eyes didn't leave Hiccups the entire time.

"What does that even mean?" Hiccup asked. He was getting angry with these ridiculous answers.

"Does it mean the truth? Is the enemy a friend, or are your friends the enemies? The greatest asset you can possess are friends and allies to help you. To turn away a friend, an ally, a _lover_...is to become the enemy yourself."

Hiccup turned away in frustration, "What are you saying, old man!?"

"Do not alienate those who love you, Hiccup Haddock. The coming storm is one you may yet not surpass."

Hiccup turned back and stomped up, his eyes burning, "How do you know my name? What are these riddles you keep speaking to me? What storm? Who are you!?"

The old man raised his left hand to rest on the staff, "My name is not yet of importance. Be careful, Haddock; When you think you are protecting, you may be bringing more danger."

Hiccup turned away and stormed off again. He called Toothless, jumped on the Nightfury's back and took off. This time, the old man didn't say anything more, not that Hiccup would have turned back anyway. Riddles were something that Hiccup could not stand when he was trying to get something done.

Hiccup flew low and fast along the trees, skimming towards Astrid's search area. No doubt it would be easy to find this dead grove this way.

Just as he expected, in the distance he saw bare, black tree branches. He angled Toothless to the ground about a ten minute walk from the patch. He would go there on foot so he could see things from the outside.

One of the things that Tyr taught them on the ship over was that when they were flying, never land in a spot that was interesting. Always land outside of it and go in on foot. So that was the plan.

As he approached, Hiccup had to cover his nose. A foul stench had suddenly blown up on the wind. It smelled like burnt, rotting flesh. The smell was overpowering.

Walking around the first tree, Hiccup resisted the urge to pass out.

XXX

Astrid rolled out of bed with a groan. Her sleep had been less than peaceful after her talk with Murianya Pretor. What she discovered there was something she really didn't want to deal with right now, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.

Looking at the sun, she decided that she had slept in a decent amount. All the others would be gone by now, her entirely ridiculous fiance and his bullshit included. That reminded her.

He didn't want her searching today, and said that he would prevent it. Well, he was already gone, so there was nothing he could do.

She dressed quickly and hastily braided her hair. To finish her morning preparations, she recited a prayer for her father and sister, and slid the long blade into her belt. She left the room and made her way to the deck, where the dragons had been sleeping.

"That's weird...it's really warm today." She said to exactly nobody. The sun was out, and no clouds marred the sky above. That meant that there would be excellent visibility in the sky.

"Azure!" She called, rounding the clump of ropes where she had left her dragon. The sapphire blue Nadder lay there peacefully, sleeping. Even more odd. Azure would normally have been up and about hours ago, preening, bathing and doing anything else to make herself more beautiful.

"Azure?" The dragon didn't stir. Now that she looked closer, she wasn't even breathing!

"Azure!" Astrid yelled, running around to the Nadders snout and rubbing it. This usually woke her up! What happened to her dragon! She stood up and grabbed her hair frantically. This is not what she needs right now. So far, this Jumenjorg trip has been one disaster after another.

While she paced, she spied something glass under a coil of rope. A vial. What was a vial doing here? She knew that Tyr kept quite a collection of concoctions, all in vials, but he wasn't around. As she stared at it, a horrific realization dawned on her.

"That son of a bitch..." She said to herself. Hiccup had drugged her dragon. This was going too far. He may be the man of her dreams. He may be her fiance, but now he had damaged something, no, _someone_ that may be closer to her than he was himself. This was akin to him giving Ingrid a bottle laced with poison. Like giving Hodr too much alcohol at once.

This meant absolute fucking _war!_ She sprinted from the ship as fast as she possibly could, accidentally knocking her mother off the dock and into the water on the way by. He had said that he would stop her, but she didn't think he would go this far. Not that it meant anything, she would just go out on foot.

Ignoring all the cries of surprise an anger as she sprinted through Metal Hook, she plunged into the forest. There were several paths that wound endlessly into the islands heart, and that was where Astrid was hoping to find Hiccup.

Two hours later, she finally stopped running to rest. What had actually stopped her was her thirst, and she happened onto a stream. She followed it until she reached a small pond where she dunked her head in, drinking in huge gulps.

Upon reflection, she hadn't kept a wonderful eye out for anything unusual during her angry sprint. Oh well. If the witch had seen her, Astrid would be hurt or worse by now.

As she sat resting, a movement out the corner of her eye alerted her. She knelt low to the ground, taking cover in a small bush nearby. Maybe she had found something important.

She watched as a tall old man, leaning on a red wood staff walked to the edge of the pond, exactly where she had been drinking moments before. As looked at the imprints her knees had made in the mud. He appeared to be thinking about something. She snapped to attention as the old mans head rose and looked away down one side of the pond, the turned back to her. Her heart got stuck in her throat when she saw his eyes. They were white, and no pupil floated in them. Another thing: He was looking directly at her.

"Can I help you, girl?" He said. His voice was young and full, which was eerie because it didn't match the man that spoke at all. She carefully stood up from her hiding place, "Who are you? Why are you out here? It's dangerous you know."

The old man smiled, but the smile faded and was replaced by a scowl, "Dangerous for me? No. Dangerous for a Matriarch? No. Dangerous for a friend? Yes."

Her own eyes narrowed, "Matriarch? What are you talking about?"

"Only the truth, young Hofferson. Or shall I say Pretor? Maybe both? Maybe...Haddock, perhaps?"

She took a step forward and placed a careful hand on the long blade, "What are you sayi-"

"Do you know who you are? Do you understand where you sit in the grand theatre that is this world?"

"Enlighten me." She snarled.

"You can only call yourself Astrid Hofferson now, girl. To call yourself a Pretor would be to accept and trust those who also call themselves by that name. You cannot call yourself a Haddock, because you cannot see past your own pride. Your hubris rivals that of Xerxes. Your fervor for self-satisfaction sails far higher than that of Nero and your inability to see farther than yourself surpasses even that of Tutankhamen."

Astrid could only stare. This guy was talking absolute gibberish. Nothing he said even made sense! She shook her head furiously, "Look, I understand you might be a little craz-"

"And now, you have rushed into the lions maw with the foolishness of Publius Varus..." The old mans voice faded away, and Astrid blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't the one who was crazy. The old man had vanished into thin air.

"There she is!" Astrid whipped around to see eight men emerging from the forest. The looked scruffier than your usual sort of bandits, but nevertheless. There were eight of them and one of her.

"Oi, she one o' them Berk ones, ain't she?" A tall, broad shouldered man on the right said. He wore an eyepatch on his left eye and only had two fingers on his left hand. He held up his hand, smiling like a buffoon, "Like me hand, eh? Got into a fight with a dragon, I did. He took me fingers and me eye, but I took his spine!"

The others laughed and slowly pressed forward. Astrid drew the long blade and held it in front of her, like it would maybe scare off the men that now threatened her. Another one broke into laughter, "Look Nosey, she got a wee little dagger!"

The man who was clearly named Nosey, because he had no nose, snickered, "Well then, that's means she wants ta play! Well lassie, lets play!" He snarled and rushed forward, producing a sword from somewhere inside his vest.

He was far too big to meet head on, so, waiting until the last possible second, Astrid batted the sword away and tripped her attacker, sending him face first in the shallows of the pond.

Three more followed his charge, and they were the ones that were more dangerous. Two carried large axes, and the other a hammer. There was no way that her long blade could compete with the amount of force behind those axes or the hammer. She would have to be real elusive to escape this one.

Dodging a swing from one of them, she punched another in the stomach. She rolled over his back as he fell, barely escaping losing her leg to an ax. she barely managed to avoid an arrow that whizzed past. The other four men wielded bows. Dammit, that just made this a whole lot harder.

Dodging and escaping was her only path to victory here. Their weapons were far too large to parry or get into prolonged confrontation with. To win, she would have to keep moving and aim for kills.

Another arrow whistled past as she kicked a charging attacker in the groin and slashed another along the thigh. The air in her lungs flew out as she was kicked in the back, throwing her face first into a stand of reeds.

Before she could recover, a large hand grabbed her by her hair and dragged her back out. "Not so tough without yer damn dragon are ya lass?" Nosey cackled. Astrid snarled and kicked him in the knee before trying to scramble away. An unknown foot crashed into her side and she was put on her back, gasping for air.

"Yer right Nose. I thought all these Berkians had dragons with them?" One of the men said, scratching his chin.

"Maybe her dragon was sick?" Another man wondered.

"Maybe the beast is restin'..." Nosey cursed loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"Shut yer traps! Whatever the reason, this girl should never have come out here alone. It's just stupid. Fine by me though because Lakka is going to love this."

Astrid had no time to question before her world went black.

XXX

Toothless inched forward, his body as low to the ground as he could get. His teeth were bared and a constant growl rumbled from his chest. Hiccup followed his dragon, his eyes narrowed and his heart tight in his own chest.

Before him lay the most terrible thing he had ever laid eyes on. The smell should have tipped him off, but he couldn't have guessed what he would find when he rounded the bend.

He walked past the first burnt carcass, noting everything he could about it. It was unbelievably mangled and torn, but one part was missing. This piqued his interest and he ran to other bodies, finding the same part gone. As he approached the back of the graveyard, he found the clue he needed: This body still had part of its tail.

It was odd. Most of the bodies were so torn and destroyed that he could not hope to identify the creature that had been hunted like this. The tail that he found was mostly the same. The difference was that this tail was still there.

This had to have some connotation. This was far too weird to be a normal occurrence. Hiccup knew that the Jumenjorg vikings were still at war with the dragons, but this was more than that.

"Toothless. Lets go." He grated out. It sickened him that anyone would do this. He and his Night Fury took off towards Metal Hook.

He thought carefully about how to approach the fact that there was a graveyard of burnt and rotting carcasses of...well, of _something_. He couldn't even identify one of the bodies, which only deepened the mystery. Whoever killed them was definitely harvesting something from them.

The flight back to the port took around an hour. Hiccup landed next to the gangplank to their long ship and hurried up it. He found Sharkshand on the deck and waved a quick greeting before rushing towards the ladder into the galley.

"They're not back yet, m'boy." Sharkshand called. Hiccup slapped his hand to his face. He should have known that they others would still be out for a few hours before returning. He walked back and flopped down onto a crate near Sharkshand, who was working on a section of railing that had been damaged by the dragons.

"Sharkshand, you told me to not smother Astrid, right?"

"Aye,"

"How do I do that?"

Sharkshand put his hammer down on the deck of the ship, "How do you not smother her?"

"Yeah,"

"Just leave her be." The large man answered simply. Hiccup's jaw dropped to the wood of the ship, "What are you talking about? Just leave her alone? But that could put her in incredible danger!"

"Think about the girl we're speaking of, Hiccup. Astrid has the ability to fight her way out of next to any situation. Lump the help of her dragon in with that, and she is as safe as can be."

As he said those words, a sick feeling sank into Hiccups chest. He scrambled to the other side of the ship to check, and sure enough, Azure lay in a drugged slumber. He had crept up there in the middle of the night, risked his life to wake the Nadder and slip a highly concentrated dose of the dragon nip drug to her.

On retrospect, when he said highly concentrated, he really meant that it was enough dragon nip to kill a smaller dragon. Overload their system. He was pretty sure that his math was correct, and some notes he filched from Tyr's room help measure out enough dosage to completely shut down Azure but not kill her. He hoped.

He slumped down against the railing. What Sharkshand said was true; Astrid could protect herself just fine. Here on Jumenjorg though, she would need Azure to do it, and Hiccup had taken Azure out of the picture.

He glumly set off for the Great Hall to get some food. He asked Sharkshand to send any returners to see him. _I guess it will be good to get some time alone from the others._ He thought. It may give him some time to wonder about the weird old man and his prattling, and about the macabre find he had.

* * *

Four hours later, all Hiccup had achieved was drinking two mugs of mead and a eating a slab of pork. All the riddles that old man had filled Hiccups head with mixed and swirled in a maddening soup of uncertainty and questions.

The only concrete thing he had said was that Hiccup had put someone or something in danger. Made no sense because everything he was protecting was here in Metal Hook. Without her dragon, Astrid had stayed in the port. He knew that she was in no rush to see him, so that explained why he hadn't seen her yet.

"Any luck yet, punk?" Said a boy with a build that was a combination of Fishlegs and Snotlout. He was massive, and sported an impressive scar. The boy must have noticed Hiccup eying it above his right cheek, "Fought a Burrowing Slitherfang for this one. I have its skin at home if you would like to see." He snickered.

"Whatever. Have you seen my blonde friend?" Hiccup asked. He had no interest in this idiot.

"That sexy piece of ass? I saw her rush off into the trees this morning. Thought about goi-"

"She went into the forest?!" Hiccup yelled, jumping up from the table. The large boy stepped back, his eyes wide, "Yes she went into the dumb trees, what about it?"

"Nothing." Hiccup replied sternly as he ran out of the hall. Astrid had done the ultimate in absolute stupidity. Why the in Thor's name would she run off into the wilderness on an unknown island _without_ her dragon?!

"Toothless!" He called, and within moments the Night Fury ran up next to his rider. Hiccup bounded onto the dragons back and they took off towards the forest. As he came above the treeline, he saw a Nightmare in the distance with a black speck that was Snotlout riding it. The dragon was descending into a clearing.

_Whats going on there?_ Hiccup wondered and he steered Toothless in that direction. As he approached the clearing, he made out two more dragons, whom he guessed where Meatlug and Barf and Belch. Next to the dragons were five people. Snotlout, who had just landed with Hookfang, Fishlegs, the Twins and...Tyr.

On seeing the purple headband, Hiccup spurred Toothless to go faster. As the Night Fury landed, Hiccup jumped off and ran up to the group, "Hey guys! We need to act fast!"

"We know. Actually its really good that you found us." Tyr said. Hiccup eyed his friend and noticed that Tyr had that look that meant that shit was wrong. Seriously wrong.

"What's wrong?" He asked slowly.

"We should ask you the same thing." Fishlegs said. Hiccup noticed that everyone was a bit on edge.

"Astrid is alone in the forests, and Azure isn't with her." Hiccup said. He saw eyes widen around the circle, except for Tyr's.

"Why is Azure not with her?! Why wouldn't Astrid fly her dragon?" Fishlegs cried. Hiccup scratched his head and set his eyes on the ground. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, "Hiccup...what did you do?"

"Remember that fight we got into?" Fishlegs nodded, "Well...uh...I sorta drugged Azure so Astrid wouldn't go out today."

"You did _what?_" Tyr bellowed. Hiccup flinched as the man's voice echoed through his head. When he opened his eyes, a fist cracked along his face as Ruffnut leveled him. "What gives you the right to decide what she does?! Huh?! You killed her!" She screamed.

"How do you guys know that she's gone?" Hiccup asked weakly. Tyr stepped forward, a look of pure anger marred his face, "Because. Her watcher came back." The silver eyed man said.

"What? Her watcher?" Hiccup questioned. Tyr nodded and motioned at seemingly nothing.

Hiccup jumped back as the boulder to his left came to life and Spectra the Changewing emerged from hiding. Strangely, the dragon seemed to be...whimpering.

Tyr stepped up and placed a hand on the dragons snout, "When we were on the way here, I asked Spectra if she would tail Astrid wherever she went. I told her that if Astrid ever ran into trouble, come back. Here she is, Hiccup. You fucked with Astrid's dragon, and now she's in the shit."

Hiccup felt the shame wash over him, "I really didn't me-"

"That can wait. We have to find Astrid first. By the by, Fishlegs did you figure out anything about those spikes?"

_Spikes?_ Hiccup thought. Oh yeah, that's right. Murk and his men had found spikes after witch attacks. What did those have to do with anything? Fishlegs walked over to the bag that hung from Meatlugs side and drew out a small box. Coming back, he opened it to reveal a couple spikes, laying in wool.

"Not really. The carvings make things harder bu-"

"Wait Fish! Let me see those!" Hiccup yelled as he got to his feet and grabbed a spike from the box. Something had clicked in his brain. All the creatures in the graveyard had their tails missing. They were all a bit bigger than Toothless in the body. Dear gods, please let him be wrong.

"Follow me! Tyr, you ride with me and Toothless!" Hiccup yelled as he ran to his dragon. The others were apparently too caught up in the moment to question him and ran to their dragons.

"Where are we going?" Tyr asked as he climbed behind Hiccup onto Toothless.

"I found something that I think will answer a lot of questions for us. A graveyard."

"A graveyard? What kind of graveyard?" Tyr asked again as Toothless leveled out above the trees, his other dragon companions close behind. "Well, more of a slaughterhouse than graveyard. Fresh corpses along with old ones. All of them have their tails missing, except one."

"So, you think the spikes are related?" Tyr wondered. Hiccup nodded and slowly the horrid truth became unquestionable.

"Tyr, what creature do we know of that uses spikes in their tails?" Hiccup said as his stomach churned from the thought that he might be right. He heard Tyr curse under his breath, "A Deadly Nadder."

"That's right. I hope I'm wrong, but I think those spikes Fish had are Deadly Nadder spikes." Hiccup confirmed as the dead grove came into sight.

After landing, Hiccup watched as the others took in the sight of the dead grove. Ruffnut retched. Twice. Fishlegs kept a solid grip on his nose, and Snotlout staggered arm in arm with Tuffnut. Tyr sniffed and wiped his brow, "This place stinks." He spat as he walked towards the first of the corpses.

Fishlegs had scurried into the grove and had disappeared. Hiccup walked next to his friends as they took in the horror and death that plagued this place.

As they walked, Fishlegs came walking back around and jogged up to them, "Fifty seven carcasses...all Nadders. No tails." His shoulders were slumped and his face downcast.

"Guess we know where the spikes came from..." Ruffnut mumbled. Tyr growled from the side, drawing all the attention to the silver eyed Keeper.

"What matters now is that we know there is no witch here..." He trailed off, which was odd. Tyr rarely trailed off like that. Hiccup decided to take the lead like he should have before this whole situation began, "Alright, we should all head back to Metal Hook and tell Murk what we found out. Lets go." Even as he said it, the others were mounting their dragons and taking off.

When they had gone, Hiccup looked at Tyr, "Hey, you trailed off a few moments ago. What's itching you?" He bristled a bit when Tyr turned a hard eye on him.

"Well, two things. I just can't help but wonder how bad Astrid is going to throttle you when this is over." A smirk hit the mans face as he saw the dread slowly seeping into Hiccups own face. When this was all over, Hiccup was going to be in pain. A lot, of pain.

"And the other thing?"

"Over the past few weeks, I have learned to talk to the Drakonicus without unleashing him. I did this exact thing two nights ago, and the he told me that there were two demons upon this island. I assumed that it was the Flaming With and myself. If there is no witch, then what is the other demon?"

Hiccup began to think, but quickly shook himself, "We'll think about that later, right now we need to get back to Metal Hook."

* * *

**Did you like it? I know, not very action packed, but the next chapter will have plenty of that. As I said, the historical figures from above may concern you, but also as promised, I now provide you with a brief explanation of each:**

**Xerxes: **A Persian Emperor who, several times, tried to subdue the "barbaric" Greek's. At the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes sent his fleet, totaling close to 700 trireme's (An ancient battleship, used almost exclusively throughout the Mediterranean) against the Greek general Themistocles, who only had ~310 triremes. When Themistocles pretended to run away, Xerxes was so proud of his mighty fleet that he sent it into the narrow Salamis Strait, where a small ambush group of Greek triremes trapped and crushed the Persians.

**Caligula:** Emperor of Rome after he murdered his adoptive father Tiberius, Caligula was a tyrant who surrounded himself by whores, slaves and men of weaker wills so that he could bully whoever he wished into doing whatever he wants. To satisfy his own lust, he would hold banquets and "sample" his guests wives on the tables from which they ate. (Sample= Rape in this case.)

**Tutankhamen:** King Tut, as he is famously known after his tomb was found in the Valley of the Kings, was a teenage Emperor of a world that he had next to no knowledge of. Ancient scriptures of his life show that King Tut was sheltered entirely as a child and it is wondered if he ever left the palace. When he took over, he had no clue how to run a Kingdom, and neither did he have the ability. Tut never looked into anything farther than how he was involved.

**Publius Varus: **Publius Varus was a Roman General who was tasked with keeping a conquered section of Germania under control. When he heard of a betrayal by local tribes, Varus took all of the three Legions (A Roman Legion was composed of 6000 Infantry) and all six cavalry cohorts under his command into the Teutoberger Wald forest. He was chasing a single pack of refugees when he was ambushed and slaughtered. Not a single Roman survived Teutoberger.

**If you would like to know how any of these men display the traits that Astrid is accused of by the old stranger, PM me and I will tell you my theory. **


	14. Rescue and Revenge

**Hey guys! As promised, this chapter has some action in it! I warn sensitive readers, there is a bit of violence and gruesome imagery at the end, so watch out!**

* * *

The flight to Metal Hook was short, and upon landing, Hiccup and the others hurried to Murk's lodge. The chief opened the door with a surprised face, "Can I help you, Hiccup?"

No thinking about being polite at that moment in time, Hiccup pushed passed the chief, "Yeah, we have no time. Listen, the spikes you found aren't mystical weapons or anything. They're Nadder spikes!"

Murk looked like a brick had hit him, "Nadder spikes? But...what does that mean?"

Tyr walked in behind Hiccup, "It means that the Flaming Witch isn't real. Someone is faking it. We don't know why, but we found a bunch of dead Nadders with no tails and it all makes sense." He said, nodding quickly to Jakka.

"Dead Nadders? We have no Deadly Nadders on this island, so how is that possible?" Murk wondered, his eyes flashing nervously between Hiccup, Tyr and the others outside, "Um...I see all the others, but where is Astrid? She is the blonde, right?"

Hiccup looked down at the ground, "Yeah...she's in trouble right now, so..."

"All thanks to you, Hiccup, so shut your trap with this one." Tyr said coldly before turning his eyes back to Murk, "She went out into the forests on foot this morning and got taken by somebody or something."

Murk gave him a confused look, "How do you know?" He asked. Tyr motioned outside and Spectra came into view. Murk's eyes widened as the dragon's color kept changing from black, to red, to yellow and several other colors.

"Why does your dragon do that?" He asked nervously. Tyr put a hand on Spectra's snout.

"She's a Changewing, but her colors change like that when she's stressed or scared. Regardless, I had her keep an eye on Astrid at all times. Judging by the fact that she came back and she's like this, I'm willing to bet that Astrid is in some sort of trouble."

Murk rubbed his temples, "So why are you telling me this?" He asked as he motioned for Jakka to come over. The woman inched up to her husband and put his arm in a vice grip.

Hiccup decided to speak up again, "Because there is actually no demon, you need to tell your people to be on guard. If there is possibly a bigger conspiracy, then they need to know. Things could be escalating quickly." Finishing his words with a firm voice. If anything, he was looking forward to dealing with this and apologizing to Astrid. Not that it would help his survival chances, but he would die with no regrets.

Tyr sat down in a chair next to the door, "Tell us, is there anywhere on this island where a fake witch is likely to hide?"

"Well there's...uh...nowhere that I can think of..." Jakka said nervously, her voice cracking in the middle of her sentence. Tyr's eyes narrowed, "You hesitated there. Something on your mind?" He asked suspiciously. Murk looked from the man's cold stare to his wife and then back before finally shaking his head.

"We can't keep it from you. There is one place on Jumenjorg, but we all stay away from it." He said, wrapping an arm around Jakka's shoulder as she hugged his side.

Hiccup admired the chief for his unwavering love, but he was distracted, "Can you tell us where this place is?" He asked quickly. Murk nodded, "It's an old port on the eastern coast that was attacked by raiders seven years ago. It was a terrible tragedy. Jakka's twin sister died in that attack." The chief said, his wife sobbing quietly into his chest.

"Didn't you tell me that you became chief about seven years ago?" Hiccup asked curiously.

Murk nodded, "Yes. It was about three weeks after I was elected. Jakka was extremely happy, but..."

"But what?" Tyr snapped. Murk looked at him fearfully before continuing, "Jakka was happy because I was her boyfriend, and I always said that I would propose after becoming chief."

Tyr threw his hands in the air, "What does that have to do with anything?!" He cried.

"Lakka, Jakka's twin, tried to seduce me several times. Tried to convince me to leave Jakka and marry her instead." Murk said. Tyr looked like he was going to flip a table, but Murk quickly continued, "Lakka was always obsessed with power. When her husband lost the election to me, she left him almost immediately and began seducing me."

"Wow...both desperate and obvious with that." Hiccup murmured. He shook his head with disgust. Jakke stepped forward, "For a few weeks after it happened, men in the village accused us of murdering her to keep power."

"What happened to them?" Tyr asked.

"They left the village when the majority sided with us." She answered, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Murk pulled her close and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Hiccup and Tyr respectfully looked away. They waited until Murk cleared his throat and then turned back.

"We'll check out that port, but let the people know what's happening." Tyr said. Murk nodded along with Jakka. Hiccup and Tyr bid their farewells and ran out the door towards the others.

"Tyr, can Spectra find Astrid now?" Hiccup asked frantically. The others stood by, their faces and bodies taught and ready for action. As Tyr and Hiccup ran past, the others fell into step with them.

"Doubtful." Tye answered shortly. Ruffnut, running alongside them thought about those words. If Spectra knew that Astrid got taken, then...

"Could she take us to the last spot Astrid was?" She asked. Tyr nodded quickly, "That would be best. We'll have to go on foot, but seeing as she was on foot too, it can't be that far." He said as they arrived at the edge of the forest. Tyr looked to his Changewing confidently, "C'mon Spectra, show us the way."

The dragon growled and darted off into the woods, the vikings following closely, the other dragons flying overhead.

XXX

Cold, dank stone tiles. Smelly too. The air...salty, like the being on the docks at Berk. There hadn't been footsteps or voices for the past ten minutes. Astrid took her time to figure all of these things out before even thinking about opening her eyes.

She had jerked awake around twenty, maybe thirty minutes back. Her hands and feet weren't tied, but she assumed she was in some sort of cage or guarded area. Made no sense that someone would take her prisoner then leave her alone.

Then again, things on Jumenjorg were weird. On a morning where her soon to be husband decided to drug her dragon and then run off, she had also met some freaky old man who talked about how she was like some person called Publius Varus, whoever that is.

The same old man called her out on this Matriarch situation that she just discovered. How would he know? She didn't even know! As she thought about all these things, she heard voices. Her ear, laying against the stone, told the tale.

From the sound of it, three people were approaching. And from the high pitched shriek that just rang out, one of the was a woman.

"Why did you bring one of them here, you flaming moron!" The high voice yelled. She heard stuttering and mutters before a loud slap followed by a painful yell. Whoever was approaching sounded angry at the fact that Astrid was there. She lay a moment more and the voice spoke again, this time right at the cage door.

"Do they know she is missing?"

A mans voice now spoke up, "Not a chance. She was alone when we took her, and we made sure to cover our tracks." He said, sounding triumphant. A moment later, someone banged on the bars of the cage she was in.

"Wake up, Berkian." It was the woman's voice. Astrid remained motionless, hoping to bluff the woman into leaving. If the woman fell for it, maybe she would leave and give the captive some time to escape. She heard footsteps on the cold floor, felt them in the stone. She had no idea who was moving. Until it hit her. Literally.

"I know you're awake. Your eyes have been moving under your precious eyelids, girl." The woman hissed before ramming her foot into Astrid's stomach. Astrid coughed and spluttered as she struggled to regain the use of her lungs. As she did so, she finally got a look at this vile woman. Who had a mean kick.

She wasn't very tall, maybe just about five feet from foot to head. However, the crazy mask she wore pushed that a bit. It was black and red, made entirely of dragon scales. The scale coating extended from the mask all the way down to below the woman's neck, completely covering the skin. From the top a black, tar looking mop of rope hung, dripping with Thor knows what.

"What are you?" Astrid hissed out between painful breathes. The woman snickered, "Oh, you know. This and that. A vengeful demon wreaking all havoc." She laughed maniacally. Astrid tried to sit up but her efforts fell flat when a sharp pain lanced from her side. One of the men had walked in and kicked her, and when she looked, she saw his face had nail marks across it.

"Look what you gave me, bitch!" He yelled, spitting all over her face.

She laughed, "Your face is better for it, trust me." As her words came out, the man's face contorted into a mask of rage. He spluttered angrily and kicked Astrid again, this time in the face.

"Calm yourself you ape. I need her alive. You can rape her if you want, but don't kill her." The woman said lightly as she turned to leave.

"Hey! I thought there was a Flaming Witch here! Who are you?" Astrid demanded, her eyes boring into the woman's back. The woman turned around, "Oh? A Flaming Witch? You want to see a witch, girl?" The woman motioned behind her, where Astrid saw one of the other guards take a torch from the wall and...and...light the woman's makeshift hair on fire.

She screeched and laughed insanely as the hair ignited into a firestorm. Then she stopped and stared down on Astrid, seemingly unfazed by the fact that her hair was on fire. On. Fucking. Fire.

"Happy, girl? You wanted to see a Flaming Witch, and now you see one?" Astrid couldn't say anything as she stared in amazement at the sight before her.

The woman laughed, "Is that really how stupid those fools at Metal Hook have become? How stale and pathetic they have grown to be under their _kind_ leaders?" She snorted.

"Leaders are meant to be kind!" Astrid yelled, getting up on one knee. The woman slapped her across the face, "You know nothing about leadership, you stupid girl. How could you? Your leadership is worse than those who rule this island! Why, your leader sent you into the forest, alone, without even your dragon! What kind of leader does that!?" She scoffed.

Astrid looked down at the ground, her anger starting to bubble, "My _leader_ didn't send me out here! I came myself after he drugged my dragon!"

"He didn't send you out here! Then excuse me you dumb girl, but you are the ignorant fool here." The woman said, her voice dripping with mockery.

"How am I the fool?" Astrid hissed through her teeth.

The woman turned her burning head to the girl and tsked her, "You should wish for death now. Any leader worth anything in this world should kill you for disobeying such an obvious order! Now have fun with these monkey's, I have work to do." The woman said.

She left and then men gazed at Astrid hungrily. The blonde backed up against the wall with a worried look in her eyes as the men surrounded her, "Well, my little blonde friend, we'll make sure you die happy!" He snickered.

XXX

Tyr and the others ran through the trees, struggling to keep up with Spectra. The dragon was quick on her feet, and the changing scales made her hard to follow at times.

They had been running for almost an hour now, Tyr and Hiccup leading while Snotlout and the twins followed closely behind. Fishlegs had fallen back to check for any tracks. He had thought that maybe she had been followed.

Tyr's mind was a focused pie of anger. One third had him fuming mad at Hiccup for doing something as low as drugging Azure. One third had him fuming mad at Astrid for being so rash and running out here alone. The last third had him fuming mad at himself for running away like a spoiled child when he could have stopped it all.

During his time in the woods alone, Tyr had found nothing but trees and other dragons. Nothing out of the ordinary at all, until the one dragon he didn't want to see found him. Spectra had come to him that morning, growling nervously and flashing like a rainbow.

Somehow, in the short weeks since he had befriended this Changewing, he had managed to establish some unspoken connection with it. Spectra seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, what he was asking, what he said, everything.

Weird. At first. Then he started to understand. Started to understand her scales. Her moods. Her growls, mewls, hums, chirps and even her bites. She had yet to roar once, but the dragon had taken to conveying her feelings and demands...through bites.

They varied in intensity, sometimes no fangs, sometimes _lots_ of fangs. As such, he began to _speak_ to her, in his own way. He would say something, such as 'can you watch Astrid for me?' and Spectra would flash her scales and nip his shoulder. Somewhere in his brain, that meant yes.

And the dragon had done just that. Watched Astrid. Now, the only reason that they knew Astrid was in trouble was because of this Changewing.

Tyr looked ahead and saw Spectra tussling about in a small clearing on the side of a pond. It looked like a grove from a fairy tale. The pond was serenely peaceful and clear as crystal, small tufts of flower pollen appeared to hang in the air. The single willow tree and it's branched hung over the pond.

The serenity was broken though, by the middle of the clearing. It looked like a fight had been had here, and in one spot there was blood. Quick as a Nightfury, Tyr was on his hands and knees, sifting through the prints with a critical eye.

If there was thing that had grown to be more than weird, it was Tyr's telltale connection to Astrid. During the Ardni crisis, he had always been able to tell her mood, where she was and even sometimes feel her pain.

Recently however, it had gotten...stronger. More primal. Less like a weird anomaly and more like something that was just a part of him now. And the closer he was to her, the more it pulsed. Right now, he was panicking, and he didn't know why.

"What happened here?" Tuffnut wondered aloud. He had just entered the clearing and was taking in the scene around him with a look of silent disgust on his face. His feet were quiet as the lightly padded around the outskirts of the stamped ground, like he was avoiding a crime scene.

Snotlout hadn't said a word yet as he slowly took in his surroundings. If this were anywhere on Berk, it would be his number one spot to take girls. Minus the blood and the fight scene of course. As he looked, his eyes fell on the far edge of the clearing from where the had entered.

"Tyr! Hiccup! Look at this," He called after jogging over to the forest edge. Tyr and Hiccup came over quickly and looked at what Snot was pointing at. The ground was packed down here too, but these prints were not frenzied. Whoever stood here didn't partake in the fight. Physically at least.

Next to each set of footprints where four or five half inch holes. Tyr scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Not sure about you guys, but I am completely stumped as to what those particular holes could be."

Footsteps came up behind them and Tuffnut knelt down next to Tyr, "I know what those are. Those are arrow holes. Sometimes shooters will stick their arrows in the ground so they can grab and shoot pretty quick." He said, running his fingers lightly over the holes.

Hiccup looked at the Twin with surprise, "I didn't know you were such an archer." He said with a smile.

Tuffnut grinned but shook his head, "Great grandmammy Thorston started this tradition of teaching all the kids how to shoot. It's carried on nicely, and my mother taught me and Ruff to shoot. Ruffnut is definitely better than me though." He said.

As if on cue, they heard a stifled scream and turned around to see Fishlegs holding a sobbing Ruffnut. Hiccup ran over along with Tuffnut and Snotlout, leaving Tyr to ponder the situation with the clearing. These tracks along with arrow holes meant one thing.

Astrid did fight with somebody, but whoever it was had archers with them. That meant that while Astrid duked it out with men or women who, from the footprints, were obviously bigger than her, she also had to dodge arrows being fired off by no less than four individuals. All these factors made it more and more likely that the blood on the ground over there belonged to her.

Hiccup came back with a worried look on his face. "What's wrong with Ruffnut?" Tyr asked quietly, not wanting to set off any tender topics.

Hiccup have the man a strained look, "Remember the night that the Ardni took over the village? I guess the men were under your orders to not kill anyone," Tyr nodded, "Well, they did kill someone. Ruffnut's sex friend Vrack was killed in the woods when he...offered her to some of those men. They beheaded him right there, and she got a warm blood shower." Tyr cursed under his breath. He remembered walking into that accursed room of Meade Hall the day after him and his soldiers took over and seeing Ruffnut in a terrible state in her cage. He never knew what over though.

"As terrible as I feel about that, how is that making her cry now?" Tyr asked. Hiccup coughed and put his hand over his eyes.

"She says that the tracks and everything in the ground over there remind her of that night, what it looked like when Vrack's head rolled into her lap."

Tyr's throat tightened. He had actually grown to like the female Thorston twin. Her usually foolishness and recklessness hid a caring and intelligent side that he knew she had. The fact that something like that happened made him sick now.

"Is she going to be alright to move on? I don't want to seem insensitive, but we kinda need her in top form right now." Tyr whispered. Hiccup gave a nod back to his friends, "Go ask her yourself."

Tyr leaned over and whispered to Hiccup for a moment before standing up.

He and Hiccup and walked over to the group of friends, where he found Ruffnut sobbing slightly into Fishlegs' chest.

Tyr's steel colored eyes hardened. They didn't have time for this. He placed a hand on Ruffnut's shoulder and slowly turned her around.

Once he had her turned, he lifted her chin and looked in her puffy, red, tear stained eyes. Her blonde hair was matted a little bit and her lips quivered. "Why are you crying?" He asked, his voice like the cold steel of a sword in ice.

Her eyes widened a bit, and he knew why too. Rarely did Tyr's voice sound like an emotionless drone, but when it did, people noticed. Quickly. Last time it got this way, Tyr had to break a man's arm for trying to steal from Ingrid.

"Um...j-just hard memories...that's all." She said quietly. Tyr grabbed the front of her shirt and sent a stinging slap across her face. All the others jumped to do something, but Hiccup stopped them with a knowing shake of his head.

Ruffnut looked back to Tyr, more tears welling up in her eyes before Tyr slapped her again, "What's wrong with you? Why are you crying!?" He demanded. Her eyes turned from sadness to fury, "A boy I loved died like this! That's why!" She screamed at him.

"Get over it!" Tyr yelled, his face inches from hers, "Get. Over. It." He repeated. She punched him twice in the face before he let her go, "How can I? How can I do that, Tyr!?" She screamed.

"Is he coming back from the dead today, Ruffnut!? Is he? Well?" He yelled back, the punches barely registering to him.

Her sudden anger burned off as quickly as it started as she timidly shook her head. Tyr backed away from her, his eyes staying cold and hard, "Then get over it. The past is the past. You're doomed if you cannot move on." He said, his tone hard and ringing with finality.

"Have you moved on, Pretor?" Said an old voice. Tyr whipped around to see someone he had not seen for years. Seventeen of them. The last time he saw this man, he was told to go into the depths of Mount Houder to guard the Black Crystal, ultimately resulting in him being cursed with the Drakonicus.

Before the group stood an old man with long white hair and a redwood staff. His eyes were as white as a full moon, both of them being solid, no pupils to be found. His long black robe twisted and shifted even though no wind blew through the clearing.

Tyr's eyes hardened and he drew the sword given to him by Gobber when they left on this journey. The shike was back on the long ship, but this sword had been easy enough to carry. His eyes narrowed as he took a fighting stance.

"Anaximander." He hissed, his eyes zeroed in on the old man.

XXX

Astrid stood in the cage, rubbing her sore knuckles. The men who had decided to try and have their way with her had hard jaws. She thought that she broke her hand at first, but it just turned out to be some hard bruising.

She hadn't seen anyone since she sent them packing, but she could hear things, and it sounded like a lot of things. She could hear plenty of voices, along with the clink and clang of armor and weapons. Whatever was happening, it was huge.

Judging by the shadows cast by the sun, she guessed that she had been awake around three hours. No food or water had been given to her, but at the same time, no attempted rapes either. A mixed blessing, at best.

While she had waited, she had even calmed down to the point that she tried to talk to her father. Tried to call him or Aislin as they had told her to whenever she needed. They didn't show themselves, but she couldn't even begin to guess why. She didn't know how the whole ancestors thing worked, exactly.

When that hadn't worked, she had tried to talk to Kia or Hyu, but the Pretor's were as talkative as her own family. Meaning not at all.

After that, she had decided to sit there and entertain herself as best she could, but five minutes of that and she was bored and frustrated. Her mind wandered, and she thought about her friends, about Azure, about Tyr, about her new status as Matriarch Pretor. About Hiccup.

That was when she had punched the wall next to her and really messed up her knuckles. The mere thought about what he did still stung her like a thorny in her boot. It had crossed her mind that not a three weeks ago, she would have shattered their engagement for this. Just thinking about it set her blood to boiling.

As she sat fuming about it, somebody tapped on the cage, "C'mon girl. She wants to see you." Astrid gave the man a long stare. He was one of those who tried to get her earlier, and his broken nose had been cracked back into place. She stood and waited for the door to open.

The man maintained a careful eye as he creaked the door open, taking refuge behind it as she walked out. As she looked around, she saw that she was on a dock, which made sense. That's why her cell smelled of salt. She was at the ocean.

The guard closed the door and led her off the docks up to a large building. On the way by, she caught fleeting glimpses into the town and saw large groups of men carrying weapons and armor around. Mules and horses dragged carts of boxes from ships that were moored in the main docks. It looked like a major operation.

As she spoke, a commotion began near the trees, and Astrid saw men running from their tasks. "What are they doing?" She asked. The guard stopped for a moment and looked before shrugging, "Brawl. Probably over rations. The mercenaries do not fancy rules."

"Mercenaries? What's going on here?" Astrid asked, a hint of worry in her voice. He didn't stop walking, but did speak, "My Lady wants to conquer Metal Hook from those who stole it from her. She is assembling an army to do so." Was all he said before they entered another building.

_An army? To attack Metal Hook? Stolen?_ All these thoughts ran through her head. Nothing seemed right, at least not yet. No doubt the Witch was about to bare her entire plan to Astrid in arrogant confidence.

They walked into a room that was a mile apart from the rest of the port that Astrid had seen. The windows were tinted with colored glass and curtained in rich satin fabric. The furniture was made from deep mahogany, richly carved and detailed.

On the opposite side of the room was a large table, a desk of some sort. It was much larger than a normal desk, being about the length of the tables in Meade Hall, and twice as wide. She could see three men standing with their backs to her. Through the cracks of their arms, she could see somebody sitting down.

The guard ushered her forward and went straight to the table, "My lady, she is here." He said before walking off. He was different than that morning. That morning, he had been a brash, shameless bandit with intent to rape an innocent girl. Now, he was orderly and respectful.

"He didn't appreciate what you did to his nose." Astrid turned her head back to see that the three men had moved off to the side, and the woman in the chair was no in full view, her mask on the table.

Astrid could not believe what she saw. She was looking at Jakka. Chief Murk's wife, who seemed so timid and concerned when they first met. Well, as it turns out, she is apparently a _very_ different person.

"Wha...Jakka? You bitch! How could you do this?" Astrid spluttered.

The red haired woman smirked, "Jakka? Oh, do you mean my dear sister? The dear sister who stole my right to rule? The sister that I intend to dismember slowly. Deliciously. I'll let her feel the pain she had caused me for the last seven years."

Astrid stared at the pure evil, bestial grin that this wore on her face. This woman was insane, plain and simple.

"I, dear girl, am Lakka. Jakka is my twin sister who stole my right to rule Jumenjorg!" She said before breaking out into a maniacal laugh. Astrid's eyes narrowed on Lakka as she went through her miniature flip out.

_Feuding twins. So there is no witch at all._ She thought. That made this whole trip that much more frustrating now that she gave it thought. Once again, they had been duped into something that wasn't true, and once again, she was the one closest to the danger.

"So, now do you see? The Witch rumor is nothing but petty fear that those idiots in Metal Hook fell under. I was actually hoping that they would just up and leave, but they called you instead." Lakka hissed.

Astrid smirked, "A thorn in your plans, are we? Well, when Hiccup and the others come looking for me..."

Lakka laughed in her chair, "_Hiccup_? That's his name? That little fish-bone is the one you place your faith in? Your even more off the deep end than I imagined." Astrid's eyes narrowed.

"How do you know about Hiccup?" She asked, a hint of venom in her voice. Lakka chuckled, "Oh my, struck a cord have I? During your snooze after you arrived here, you were very...loose lipped when it came to your personal affairs. Shall I call into a question the drugging of a certain dragon of yours?"

Astrid's face tightened and her lips pursued to a thin line. So she had talked in her sleep and spilled all about Hiccup's little stunt. "H-how long was I out for?" She asked shakily. Lakka regarded her absentmindedly, "From the time you arrived, about six hours." Astrid's eyes must have betrayed her feelings, because Lakka turned a more amused look to her.

"Oh, angry now are we? A little lovers feud going on between you two is there? That doesn't sound good for a supposed team of dragon riders." Lakka snickered. Astrid didn't grace the bitch with an answer and resorted to grinding her teeth.

The woman stood up and came around to stand in front of Astrid, "No matter, really. They won't even know you're gone till it's far too late. You see, me and my mercenaries are going to be attacking Metal Hook. Tonight. Where will you be? In that little cell, your body in one corner and your head in the other." She snarled before punching Astrid in the stomach. She coughed and spluttered, but stayed on her feet as best she could. Her hands were still bound behind her.

She would have tried to react, but Lakka punched her twice on her left temple, and Astrid's vision turned bright white and dizzy. Through her daze, Astrid could feel blows landing on her back and sides, but she had fallen to the ground at this point. Slowly, her world faded out as she heard the rasp of a blade being drawn.

XXX

"Anaximander." Tyr hissed, his eyes zeroed in on the old man. Hiccup flashed his eyes between Tyr and this Anaximander person. _Tyr knows this man?_ He thought frantically. He had hoped that Tyr had laid all his secrets on the table, but it appears that he was wrong.

"Not excited to see me, young Pretor?" Anaximander asked with an amused grin. Tyr let out a low growl and kept his sword ready for attack, "Explain to me why I would be happy to see you." He spat. The old man chuckled and shifted his weight to his opposite foot, "Well, for one, I saved the Keepers. You must owe me something."

"How did you save the Keepers?! I'm all that's left of them!" Tyr roared. Anaximander held up his right index finger, "No, no, no, Pretor. I told you how to save them and gave you the chance to do so. What happened after that was not my doing."

Tyr snarled, "No, you just take credit but not fault! What are you doing here!?" He yelled.

Hiccup and the others recoiled behind Tyr as a faint red glow started to emanate from Anaximander. The wind started howling through, blowing like Thor himself was pushing it across the land.

"The world is changing, Pretor. Your world is changing! Either change with it...or perish!" Anaximander said as he began to levitate, his now bare feet rising slowly above the ground.

"Learn your place!" The old mans eerie voice now boomed out all over, like he was speaking to them through the clouds themselves. His old white eyes began to dim to pitch black.

"_M'tesh lezzhin xeter havaktung! Buoorzzhea ummen ho tlazshto!" _The last words boomed out as thunder began to clap and rain poured from the opened skies. For the next moments, Anaximander continued to boom down in a language that Hiccup could not understand.

In a bright flash, the old man disappeared, as did the storm that had come upon them. The skies cleared and the hot sun shone down once more, not a single cloud remaining to obscure it.

Tyr breathed heavily, his eyes set on the sky. The sword fell from his hand as he wiped his face from the momentary rain that had fallen. Hiccup turned to the others, "Are you guys alright?" He asked shakily, his own legs a bit wobbly after what they had seen. As they nodded, a loud crash sounded and he whipped his head back around to see that Anaximander had pinned Tyr against a tree, his old face only inches away from Tyr's silver eyes.

And then he was gone again. Tyr crumpled against the tree, his eyes wide and his mouth set in a gape. Hiccup stumbled over, "Tyr! Are you alright? What happened? Who is Anaximander? What did he just say to you?" His questions spewed forth like a river after breaking a dam.

Tyr looked at Hiccup, his eyes betraying no feelings, "Remember when I told you all about demons on the ship over here?" Hiccup nodded, recalling Tyr's brief lesson about what they could expect, "Anaximander...is a Sage. One that I know well." Tyr said, speaking slowly, as if remembering cold memories.

"How do you know him?" Hiccup asked. There was a thousand possible questions, and yet a thousand more on top of that, but that was all the he managed to say. Tyr stared back at the ground for a minute before standing up, "Story for another time. Come one, we have to go. Where are the dragons?"

As if on cue, Toothless and the others dropped down into the clearing. Their respective riders ran to them and mounted on, "Where are we going, Tyr?" Tuffnut called from the Zippleback's back.

"To that port that Murk told us about. Hurry." He said as he jumped onto Toothless' back. Hiccup didn't question the silver eyed Keeper because he was still dazed as he mounted Toothless and fit his prosthetic into the rigging.

They took off and raced for the port, at Tyr's begging. As they flew nearer to the coast, Hiccup saw something in the distance. Smoke, from either forges or campfires rose above the treeline.

"What is that?" Fishlegs called from Meatlug.

"What does it look like Fishbrains? Those are fires!" Snotlout scoffed. Hiccup didn't see the glare that Ruffnut sent to the Monstrous Nightmare's rider because he was so focused on the campfires ahead.

_If Astrid was taken by men, good chance she's there. I hope you're okay._ He thought as the dragons came down to land in some trees.

"What's the plan?" Ruffnut whispered. Tyr landed on his feet and immediately went low to the ground. Hiccup and the others followed suit and inched through the bushes. When they finally came to the edge of the port, they needed a minute to take in what they saw.

Hundreds of men stacked crates and supplies, sharpened weapons and repaired armor. Large carts brought more supplies from two large ships that could be seen in the distance. At the top of the hill, a large building stood that had guards out front.

It looked like a hill that had been cut down the middle. On each side of a central road were buildings that had been turned into a variety of places, such as a single tavern and what looked like barracks. On one side of the hill was a few rundown dock storage cells, and a single walkway extended across the main road to the guarded building.

"Tyr, what do you think is in there?" Hiccup whispered, pointing. Tyr scrutinized the building for a moment, "Probably those in charge. Could just be a big warehouse at the same time." He answered, his eyes darting around. Most likely he was analyzing their position and thinking of a way in without making a scene.

"Hiccup! Check the walkway!" Fishleg's whispered furiously, pointing. Hiccup followed his finger and caught his heart in his throat. Being led by a single guard, Astrid was looking down on the operations below her. Her hands were behind her back, most likely tied by rope or something to that effect. She stopped for a minute and shared words with the guard before being pushed along.

What she was looking at was a commotion that was taking place outside one of the buildings. Looked like a supply building, and three men were pulling bags of something away from each other before one of them decided to throw a punch. It had escalated into an all out brawl, and Hiccup wasted no time.

"Come on! We'll use the mayhem to get up to that building!" He said, setting off down the treeline. Soon, Tyr and the Thorston caught up to him, "Hiccup! What's the plan?" Ruffnut called. Further down the treeline, Hiccup had noticed that the hill tapered back down into flatland, and there was only about fifty yards from the trees to the side of the building. With the current chaos, they would go unnoticed breaking in to rescue Astrid.

Reaching the spot closest to the building, Hiccup cheered again in his head. Right at this corner of the building there was a door guarded by a single woman. He hadn't particularly thought about what to do about her just yet, but he was thinking.

"Is everyone armed?" Tuffnut whispered. Hiccup had a steel dagger, Tyr had a sword, the Twins both had swords. When Hiccups eyes fell on Fishlegs, who was shaking his head, he actually didn't mind.

"Fish, you can just beat the Hel outta anyone dumb enough to cross you." He said with a grin. Fishlegs returned the grin, but Snotlout held out a tiny, flimsy looking knife, "This is all I got, guys."

Hiccup heard Tuffnut roll his eyes, Ruffnut insulted the boy, but Tyr grabbed the knife, "Perfect. So, here's the question: kill or no kill?" He asked, his eyes zeroed in on the guard.

Ruffnut looked to the guard then back to Tyr with disgust on her face, "Wait! Kill her? Tyr, she's a woman!"

"She'd kill you without a second thought." Tyr answered coldly. Hiccup thought about it carefully.

"Tyr, is there any way to get in there without killing her?" He asked. Tyr rolled his eyes and inched forward. Hiccup watched as the man drew his arm back slowly, taking aim. Then he whipped it forward.

There was a blunt thud and the woman fell motionless as Tyr motored out to the door, beckoning the others to follow. Hiccup got there and saw what Tyr had done. He'd thrown the knife in such a way that the hilt struck the guards head first, and not the blade.

"Tyr, you have to show me how to do that sometime." Tuffnut whispered. Tyr grunted before turning back to them, "Alright guys. We managed it with this one, but once inside, it might not be so easy. Incapacitate who you can, but you might have to kill when you're inside." He said, and then he started to open the door. Ruffnut grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.

"Tyr! None of us have ever killed anyone before!" She whispered harshly. Tyr looked back with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry! I would do this all myself, but sometimes I need someone to watch my back! It might be empty in there, all I'm saying is be prepared to do the worst. Never said you had to. Besides, Fishlegs has killed men before." Tyr pushed the door open slightly as he said it, his head whipping side to side before he entered the darkness. Hiccup watched as Tuffnut handed his sword to Fishlegs and ushered the boy forward. Fish took the sword without hesitation and followed Tyr into the dark.

Hiccup went in after, and the others followed him. The stairs they reached were like those you would find in a great hall. Stone, with a damp, musty smell about them. They inched up the stairs towards a light. Hiccup drew his steel dagger and held it firmly.

He had trained in its use for a while, but he felt much more confident in the use of a hammer. Reaching the top of the stairs he, Fishlegs and Tyr peeked over the edge to see an empty room with a small fireplace burning. It was bare otherwise, having no furniture and only a shaggy woolen rug in the center. A single painting of the coast hung above the fire. There was only one door in here, so they would have to be careful.

Keeping quiet, Fishlegs beckoned the others to come up the stairs. They did so and followed Tyr who had silently padded over to the door, where he had his ear pressed against it.

Every stayed quiet while Tyr listened. Hiccup himself couldn't hear much of anything beyond the crackle of the fire and Snotlout's heavy breathing. Tyr's eyes strained before he pulled away, "I can't hear anyone in the hallway. Fishlegs, push open the door." He whispered, moving to kneel just in front of the portal.

As Fish eased the door open, Tyr flicked his head down the hall in one direction, then rolled out to face the other direction.

"Nothing." He whispered before standing up straight. Hiccup peeked out into the hall, even though he knew it was safe. There were five doors, not including the one they were coming out of. Out of those five, only two had light beneath the doorframe.

"Alright, Fish and the Twins will take that door and see what's up. Snotlout, Tyr and I will take this door. Meet back in here in two minutes." Hiccup said. The others nodded and jumped to do what they were assigned.

As Tyr and Hiccup creeped up on their door, a frantic whisper alerted them. "Hiccup! Come here, quick!" It was Tuffnut's voice. He, his sister and Fishlegs were listening closely at the door. Hiccup scurried over and listened.

"...will you be? In that little cell, your body in one corner and your head in the other." The woman's venomous voice was followed by several grunts, and immediately, he knew it was Astrid that was getting beaten. Without a moments thought, he flung the door open, grabbed his steel dagger and hurled it at the woman standing above Astrid's shaking form.

It flew truly, but the woman lurched out of the way at the last moment. The dagger continued past her and buried into one of her guards chests, right below his neckline. The man went down without a sound, but the others jumped into action, drawing swords.

Hiccup was pushed out of the way when Fishlegs charged in, blocking an overhead strike from one of the three remaining guards.

"Hiccup! Get to Astrid!" Tyr bellowed as he rolled in and intercepted another guard, exchanging blows with the man and producing a shower of sparks. Hiccup crawled towards Astrid's form, ignoring the fighting going on above him.

The woman that he had intended to kill with the dagger stepped between him and Astrid, "Well, well! The fish bone has some back bone after all! Come, little boy, lets see how much back bone you have!" She cried, drawing a long, carved Nadder spike.

Hiccup was helpless. He had foolishly thrown his weapon away, and now he stood with an eney and no weapon. The woman seemed to notice as well, "No weapon? How stupid you are, throwing your blade away like that! A quick death for you!" She screamed as she stabbed viciously at him. He dodged and punched her in the side, hoping to slow her down a bit. His weakness was mobility. If he could turn this from a fight for position into a fight for blows, then he stood a chance.

She recoiled from his punch and sent a backhanded slash across his shoulder. The wound stung, but Hiccup could tell that it wasn't deep; that spike was a stabbing weapon, not a slashing one.

He spun away from her and regained his feet. She circled him slowly, sizing up her next attack. His eyes were quickly searching for a way to end this. It wouldn't help them to get into a long drawn out fight here.

His thinking time was cut off as the woman surged forward, the spike held back, fully intent on tasting his blood. He rolled to the side, dragging his leg around and tripping her. She planted a hand in the ground and gracefully rolled back up to her feet, spinning and coming back after him.

He scrambled to get back to his feet, but wasn't fast enough as she jumped at him. His hands caught the hand with the spike, but the momentum of the jump carried the spike into his belly. He cried out in pain as it pierced him, his hands the only reason it had not gone further.

The woman smiled maliciously as she tried to use her weight to drive the spike further into his gut, and Hiccup gritted his teeth as he tried to keep it out of his gut. The sounds of clanging steel seemed to invade his head. He knew that there were only, at most, three separate fights going on, but it seemed like thousands.

The world slowed down. His breathing became short and ragged. His arms were screaming their protest with trying to hold both this woman up, and keep her spike from impaling him. His eyes were locked into hers, the both of them engaged in not only a physical battle, but now a battle of wills as well.

He heard a cry and the clatter of metal. Then another. Then another. Then, to his surprise, the woman's eyes went wide. Her press on the spike lightened, and her mouth hung open. Blood trickled down her forehead and down onto his face.

His eyes lifted and he stifled a cry. A pale white arm was holding a stark white dagger, buried to the hilt in the woman's skull. The woman was lifted off of him by a thick arm, the size of which only Fishlegs possessed, and tossed aside. Hiccup, breathing a sigh of relief looked behind him and into the burning eyes and bloodied face of Astrid Hofferson.

"Astrid, thank the gods you're safe," He said, smiling at her. She did not return the gesture. She wiped a single hand across her mouth, ridding herself of the blood on her mouth.

"Shut up." Was all she said before her foot crashed across his face and his world went black.

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**Well, didja enjoy it? Yes? No? Maybe so? In any case, please leave me some feedback. The next chapter will contain Hiccup's punishment, an explanation of Anaximander from Tyr, and the start of the Keeper Arc!**


	15. The Oath of Blades

**Hey Guys! I had to think about this chapter for awhile. Wasn't really sure how to retie Astrid and Hiccups shattered loveyness. If there are any grammatical mistakes or anything like that, I apologize. I just found out that a root canal I had done a few years ago was a half assed job, and now its infected :/ Had an abscess drained today :/**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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Hiccup dragged himself out of bed with a sigh. His eyes drifted sadly to the other side, undisturbed in days. The furs lay in a neat spread. They were cold, not having been on a body in days.

Three days since they rescued Astrid from the 'Flaming Witch', Lakka. Three days since he woke up alone, with everyone telling him that Astrid was gone.

Fishlegs had given Hiccup the breakdown of the situation when he woke up, saying that Astrid had been gone since they arrived back. Off in the forests with Tyr and their dragons.

They hadn't heard from her since. Not a whisper. None of them had seen Azure above the treetops. Astrid had never come back for anything. The only thing Hiccup did know was that Tyr veritably dragged her, kicking and screaming, out into the forest.

He slowly went through his morning routine. Washed his face, stared at her bedside for awhile, fixed his hair, stared some more, got dressed, stared some more. He stopped in front of his door and stared at the neat furs again.

Things had not gone his way once she was safe. She had apparently kicked him into unconsciousness after killing Lakka and her goons. Word was that Fishlegs carried him back while Astrid rode Toothless with Tyr. He had taught her to use the rigging for the Night Furies tail, so that wasn't an issue.

Turns out that she was much, _much_ angrier than he anticipated. Fishlegs had to stop her from carving him up with that long blade of hers after her was unconscious.

"Staring at it isn't going to do anything, dear." The ghostly form of his mother said, stepping around from behind him. His eyes flashed to her momentarily before they settled on the ring again.

"I know, mom. I just don't know what to do." He said miserably. He barely registered her hand resting on his shoulder. His mothers translucent form unsettled him when he first saw it, but now it didn't bother him at all.

"Explain to me, Hiccup. Why did you do it in the first place? Why did you try to cage her?" Val asked, guiding him to sit on the bed once more.

He rubbed his hands over his hair and face, breathing slowly, "I...I don't really know, mom. I drugged Azure to keep Astrid from going out into the danger, but her getting caught like that..."

"Wasn't in your plan?" She finished for him. He nodded solemnly at her.

"How was I supposed to know that she would run off like an idiot? How was I supposed to know that the Witch was a fake and some goons would kidnap her?"

His mothers eyes got a hard look to them, "Hiccup, I didn't think I would need to remind my son about this, but a family sticks together. No matter the danger, a family that is together will always succ-."

"I know mom. I know. I just couldn't help myself. Whenever she's in danger, I feel the need to do whatever possible to protect her."

Val shook her head, "No Hiccup. That cannot be the only reason for you to do something so rash." She said softly.

He nodded defiantly at her, "That's all the reason I needed. She's going to be my wife, mom. The mother of my children. What greater reason do I need to do something so rash? Her safety is number one in my book." He said confidently.

She smiled at him before looked at the ground in thought, "You know, Hiccup, your father said the same thing as you. Do you know what he did?" Hiccup shook his head. What did his dad do that was like this? Stoick the Vast didn't seem the type to do something stupid.

"He snuck into my bedroom at night, every day for a week, and chained me to my own bed. When I broke my bed to get free, the next night he chained my door. When I broke that too, that was when he went too far. He snuck in, and _stole_ my armor and axes. I was furious. Do you know what I almost did, Hiccup?" He shook his head again.

She gave him a vicious smile, something he didn't think his wonderful mother capable of, "I beat him like a sack of potatoes. For days. When he finally came to, I threatened to leave him for Gobber the Belch. Do you know what your mighty father did?"

Again, Hiccup shook his head. This was a side of his family he had not heard of, "Your father, Stoick the Vast, was reduced to a sniveling heap of viking blubber. He cried and begged like a baby after his mothers teat, swearing by all the gods that he would do anything for me. Anything. Have you ever had the pleasure of seeing your fathers feet?"

Hiccup snickered a bit, "Well, now that you mention it, no I haven't." Stoick wore shoes at all times. _All _times. Once when he was too drunk and he stripped naked on a table in the hall, he stripped everything, except his boots.

"Next time you see him, ask to see his feet. Look at his left foot. You will understand. Anyway, you need to win her back, Hiccup. You must convince Astrid that what you did was no fault to her, but only you looking out for her."

Hiccup opened his mouth to answer, but his mother was gone. After quieting for a moment, a heavy set of feet rumbled their approach. His room was the only one down the hall of the ship, so he could only assume that whoever it was was looking for him.

He stepped out his door only to be nearly run over by a rushing Snotlout, "Hiccup! Come quick!" He yelled before turning around and running the other way. Hiccup rushed after him, his heart pounding in his chest.

As he ran, a single thought ran through his mind. Astrid was back. It had to be that, why else would Snotlout come running to him like a bat out of hell? Emerging onto the deck, Hiccup found the entire crew there–except one.

"Where's Astrid?" He asked, walking over. The Thorstons looked at him with a worried look, and Fishlegs with a hard, thoughtful glance. He noticed Ruffnut's hand, laying in the crook of Fish's forearm and bicep, but passed it off as coincidence.

Snotlout was laying on the deck, huffing and sucking in air by the gallon. And in front of them stood Tyr, his arms crossed and his silver eyes planted firmly on Hiccups.

"Not here. Only Tyr came. Said he wanted to talk to you." Fishlegs said nervously. Hiccup flashed his eyes to Tyr.

"Where is she, Tyr?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.

The big man didn't move a muscle as he spoke, "Safe. Away from you."

Hiccup took a pleading step, "Tyr! You know I was only trying to help her! Keep her safe!" He begged. Tyr was the only one who knew where the girl was, so it only made sense to speak to him. If Tyr wanted someone to stay hidden, it was near pointless to try looking. If Astrid didn't want to be found, it would be near pointless to try looking. With the both of them were working together, then it would be impossible to find her.

Tyr shrugged, "I know. She doesn't. Won't listen to me either, but she did ask me to give you a message." When he finished, Tyr reached into a small bag on Spectra's horn. He pulled something out a flicked it to Hiccup.

Catching it, Hiccup's heart sank. It was the ring he made her. The one he planted inside he prosthetic when he made it. Her wedding ring.

"Wha...what is the meaning of this?" He stammered. He tried to resist it, but the hot feel of tears coming to his eyes threatened.

Tyr's eyes got stony, "Said she doesn't want it. Unless." Hiccup pretty much fell on the last word. He was waiting for the unless and he felt like Hel was prying at his mind to hear it.

"Unless? Unless what! Unless what, Tyr!" Hiccup yelled, stepping up to be toe to toe with the much larger Keeper. Tyr took one step back.

"Unless you can convince her that you can protect her better than she can herself." Tyr said plainly. Hiccup squinted his eyes, "Wait, that doesn't make any damn sense!"

Tyr kept his stony eyes, "It does Hiccup. Astrid demands that you do exactly what you were trying to prevent."

Hiccup growled deep in his stomach, "Tyr, you have five seconds to start making sense." He snarled.

"She asking for a duel. One on one. You against her. Till one side cannot continue. No weapons." Tyr said, looking around to all the others as he continued, "You have three days to get ready. I'll train you. At noon, she'll fight you in the forest where she is staying, away from the prying eyes and voices of the town. Did you hear me, Hiccup? _Fight_. Not spar. Fight. She won't hold back, and neither will you." Tyr finished his declaration with a tone of finality.

Hiccup spluttered, "Fight her? Why the hell would I do that? What if I say-"

"If you say no, you're giving up her hand in marriage as well." Tyr interrupted. Hiccup's entire world felt like it was tearing at the seams. How in Thor's name did he get into this mess? If one thing improved, something else got fucked up entirely! He wants nothing more than to keep Astrid safe, yet now the only way to her side is to hurt her. The gods have a messed up sense of humor, that's for sure.

Hiccup shook his head to clear his mind, "Yeah...fine. Tell her that I accept. Lets go."

Tyr held out a hand, his eyes becoming curious, "Lets go? No training? Hiccup, she'll kill you. You're still recovering from that spike wound!"

He shook his head, "I don't need to do anything. Astrid doesn't stand a chance against me." Hiccup said flatly. His eyes were hard and ready. If she wanted a fight, she would get one.

Snotlout stood up from the deck, "Hiccup, trust me, self assurance is worth next to nothing against her."

"You can tell yourself you'll do fine all you want, Hiccup. She'll still break your legs. Well...leg." Tuffnut called. Ruffnut tried vainly to swat him before turning back, "Hiccup, you're crazy to go in with no preparation. At least let Tyr talk to you about her tendencies and penchants!"

Hiccup shook his head, "No! I don't need all that. Tyr, lets go. We're finishing this today. I'm not sleeping alone again."

Tyr nodded but looked doubtful, "She said three days..."

"Fuck three days. You know what, come back tomorrow morning, first light. We'll be back for lunch." He said, stomping back into the depths of the long ship.

XXX

"What the hell was that?" Fishlegs said. Tyr's eyebrow twitched as thoughts ran through his mind.

_I wonder if Hiccup is aware that this is serious. He hurt her. Badly. She cried for hours. Messed up a nice shirt too. A breach of trust this size takes lifetimes to fix. Still though..._

"Since when is Hiccup confident?" Tuffnut asked, looking at Snotlout. The boy chuckled in his own cocky fashion, "Hah. Since never. He probably went to shit his pants and write his will."

Ruffnut turned back to Tyr and observed him carefully, "What do you think, Tyr? I mean, you and Astrid are like...tied in spars aren't you?" He smirked and nodded. They weren't. He led their match record with a score of eighteen to thirteen, but that wasn't the point.

She had won the last six.

Of course he didn't go full tilt yet. If he did, the record would be thirty one to zero in his favor. As much as he didn't like the others jeering that she would overtake him soon, she would never be able to keep up if he went all out. He had seventeen years of harsh military training, with the Drakonicus to boot.

She wasn't at his level. Yet.

He scratched his chin thoughtfully, "You know, old Marcais used to tell me all the time that 'love changes men. Makes them something else entirely'. I wonder if Hiccup knows something he's not telling us." Tyr murmured.

Snotlout scoffed, "Hiccup can't keep a secret to save his life." He laughed.

Ruffnut cast a sidelong glance at the muscled boy, "He kept Toothless a secret from us for weeks, Snot."

Tyr shook his head, "No, that was different. The entirety of Berk would have killed him and Toothless if he went and told everyone. This isn't a secret. This is something else..."

"This is an intangible." Fishlegs murmured. Everyone turned to look at the large boy with curiosity.

"Intangible is a term used a lot with classifying dragons. An intangible is something that can't be measured. Can't be seen or felt really, either. The only person who knows the intangible is he or she who possesses it." Fish analyzed.

Tuffnut's faced scrunched as his brain attempted to process intelligent information, but it steamed out.

"So what does that mean?" He asked finally.

Fishlegs folded his large arms over his chest, "What I mean is that Hiccup has an intangible; there is something that he knows, something that we can't see, feel, guess at or assign a number to."

"What, so we aren't allowed to assume that Astrid is going to whip his ass?" Ruffnut posed, staring intently at the Ingerman.

"Not necessarily. I think we can all agree that in a classic old fight, Astrid would win hands down. However, it appears that Hiccup has something in his pocket. Something nobody, even Astrid, could expect." Fishlegs surmised.

Tyr thought carefully about the large boys words. If Hiccup indeed had some unique method of dealing with her, he couldn't even begin to guess what it was. Hiccup spoke with confidence when he said that he would handle this today.

But such confidence could at the same time be created courage. He could talk a big game, then go and get wiped across the floor. It didn't seem that way though. Tyr was sure that if Astrid had an extremely glaring weakness, he would have discovered it by now. To him, her greatest weakness was still a tiny one.

"Tyr?" The sudden voice pulled him from his thoughts. He looked around to see Ingrid standing at the doorway to the upper galley.

"Yes, Ingrid? What can I do for you?" He said politely. He liked Astrid's mother. The woman was very down to earth with her daughter, and a blast to have at a party. She beckoned him over and he promptly escaped the attention of the other riders.

When he arrived next to her, he noticed her eyes. A dash of red, and a but puffy underneath. This woman had cried, or sobbed, recently.

"Tell me...how is my daughter?" She said slowly, softly.

Astrid asked Tyr to be cold and cruel to Hiccup, but said nothing of her mother. This was something that he would not get chastised for later. Astrid could not keep her mother in the dark like this.

"She is fine, Ingrid. Shaken up, upset, cried for what seemed like a full day after her ordeal, but she is fine for the most part. Other than her impending duel with Hiccup, everything is fine."

Ingrid's eyes narrowed as his words ended, "Duel? Has my daughter honestly demanded to duel her soon to be husband?"

Tyr scratched his head, "Well, unless Hiccup wins, then I'm not sure he'll be husband much longer."

She scoffed, "My boy, you know things that we could not even hope to guess, but in some regards, you are indeed still a child."

He got an indignant look on his face, "How so, o mighty teacher?" He ducked a swat quickly, his heart racing a bit; even a swat from Ingrid would hurt. Maybe more than a punch from Astrid.

"You understand war, deceit, even demons. You, however, know nothing of the game of love. Regardless, send my daughter my love and keep her safe." The blonde woman said before retreating back into the bowels of the ship.

Tyr took a deep breathe before heading back off the ship. Ingrid always had a certain way with telling people things. That made them feel like...damn, I'm stupid.

XXX

Astrid sat next to the river of her small camp, thinking somberly about the one person she was most concerned about. She had no idea what she was going to do with him, no clue _what_ she should do with him. He had only ever tried to help her and every time she shoved him away, destroyed his temperament. Without even thinking, she hurt the poor man.

She was going to be his world. His everything. All because of a mistake.

How was she going to tell Tyr that despite being the bitch of the North, she was his Matriarch and therefore...his master.

The thought of being the master of anything except herself gave Astrid a knot in her chest. Everyone was equal in her eyes. Nobody more valuable than anyone else, in terms of friends. When it came to evil people such as Lakka and her mercenaries, nothing was equal.

But family! And friends! How could Astrid go about telling Tyr that she is his Matriarch? According to both Kia and Murianya, that meant that Tyr had to obey her, _period_. No ifs, ands or buts about it. How could she do that, and then show her face back home? 'Hey mom, Tyr is our lackey now, so I can make him do anything, isn't that great?' Maybe she was looking at this the wrong way, but still. It irked her.

Regardless, she was ashamed of the things she had said when they got back to Metal Hook. Tyr immediately dragged her off back into the forests so she wouldn't do anything stupid. He could see she was angry, and once again he displayed strength.

All while she was screaming insults and taunts at him, about his hair, his eyes, his _curse_. She even went as far to tease him about killing Kia and his family, when he had no choice!

Through it all, Tyr didn't say a word and still dragged her away. He didn't say anything to her while she paced and screamed at him about Hiccup, about everything that happened to her because of Hiccup drugging Azure, about Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup.

He didn't say anything while she cried into his chest about Hiccup, about everything that happened to her because of Hiccup drugging Azure, about Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup. He sat there and took it all in stride, letting her expel her pent up frustrations.

He said nothing while she concocted her plan to fight Hiccup. To force him to the one thing he hated; hurt her. She figured that if he could swallow his pride for her sake, then she would let this whole situation pass peacefully.

The only thing that he said the whole time came when she slid the ring off her finger. The ring Hiccup had made for her.

"Don't you think you're going a bit far?" He had asked. She had assured the tall Keeper that she knew exactly what she was doing. She was deathly serious about this whole thing, and she wouldn't have him thinking otherwise.

"Have you told him yet?" A ghostly voice asked. Astrid didn't even turn around. She knew who it was.

"No, Ms. Pret-"

"Call me Murianya."

"No, Murianya. I haven't told him. Why must I do it anyway? You're his mom, why don't you tell him?" Astrid asked, picking a fingernail nervously.

The ebony haired woman entered Astrids view, her face set sternly, "Astrid, you must tell him because _you_ are the Matriarch. Not me anymore."

Astrid threw her hands into her hair, tearing it from its braid, "I know, I know! I just have so much to worry about right now that I can't think straight! I mean, how do I have this conversation with Tyr _an__d_ deal with Hiccup!?"

The tall woman smiled, "I thought you already dealt with your husband?"

Astrid flicked her eyes to the former Matriarch, "He's _not_ my husband!"

Murianya just laughed, sounding more like a song than anything else, "Whatever you say, dear. What have you done, if you don't mind me asking?"

Astrid stood up and started pacing, "Well he didn't want me to get hurt, so I challenged him to just that. A duel. Me against him, winner takes all. We fight till one of us can't move." She declared. Murianya placed a thoughtful hand on her cheek, thinking. Astrid watched as the ex-Matriarchs serene face became serious and hard.

"Astrid. You must listen carefully and think even more so. I have a method for you to handle both problems."

Astrid's eyes brightened, "Really!? Please, tell me!" She said ecstatically. The old Pretor's face didn't lighten at all. If anything, it got darker.

"However, the trial will set into motion something that you cannot stop once begun. It will solve your dilemma with Tyr, and patch your relationship with your hu...I mean with Hiccup."

Murianya took a deep breath before continuing, "I will tell you how to do it. Show you, even. I must warn you, though. Both you can Hiccup could die."

Astrid just nodded in her excitement, waiting with baited breathe to hear this magic solution. Death wasn't on her mind.

"Remember Astrid, If you do this, you will have begun a cycle that cannot be stopped until you complete it." Murianya warned again.

Astrid nodded quickly, "Yes, I heard that part. What is it?"

Murianya sighed, "Alright Astrid. I will now explain the Blēḍa kī Śapatha."

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**Well? Was it boring? I thought so a little. Was it exciting? Should I jump off a cliff? **

**Also, I have a creeping need for a little something else. There is a poll, ladies and gentleman, readers and dragons! Please head over to my profile and vote! And after you vote, feel free to throw some ideas at me!**


	16. The Oath of Blades, Part II

**Hey Guys! This is a shorter chapter than I prefer, but it's important. Please pay attention while you read! Themes from this will resonate throughout the Keeper Arc!**

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"The Blēḍa...kī Śapatha?" Astrid wondered aloud. Murianya nodded solemnly.

"In your tongue, it would be the Oath of Blades. An ancient Keeper rite of passage." She said, before her eyes ventured to the trees.

Astrid followed her gaze and settled on another set of eyes. Silver ones, standing just at the edge of the camp. Tyr stepped silently out into the open, casting a nod a Astrid and bowing to his mother. He still didn't say anything.

Murianya regarded her son icily before turning back to Astrid, "I see that he is here now. Well, this solves a few problems. Tyr! Come here." She said sternly. Tyr obeyed without question, coming to stand silently by his mothers side. She turned her ghostly eyes back on Astrid and nodded.

Astrid took a deep breathe, "Tyr, there is something you need to know...I'm th-"

"Your the new Matriarch, aren't you?" He asked flatly. Both Astrid and Murianya cast surprised glances at him, but the ex-Matriarch managed to keep her mouth shut while Astrids fell open.

"You knew, Tyr?" His mother asked softly. He shrugged.

"I only had a sneaking suspicion. Only figured it out just now. Why else would you be telling her about the Oath." He said, plopping down on the log that was the only seating in the clearing. Murianya smiled and nodded, "Well, that's good then. You can handle it. I'm rather tired." She said before disappearing.

Astrid looked at Tyr with worry and confusion, "No disrespect here...but dead spirits get tired?"

He gave her an amused glance, "Well, not in the same way you and I do. Manifesting for too long makes their spirits weak. They have to go back to whatever realm they stay in to...regenerate I suppose."

She shifted nervously on her feet and investigated the ground closely, "So...how is...um...how is he doing?"

"Who?"

"...you know..."

His glance became even more amused and he chuckled, "Your mom was right."

"Right about what!?" Astrid cried, turning away as a mad blush danced across her cheeks. She heard him laughing behind her.

"Nothing...so..."

"So what?"

"You're my new Mother, huh?" She turned around quickly, glaring at him, "What do you mean 'new mother'?" She asked.

He took a small dagger out of his belt and began to clean his fingernails, "Judging by that fact, you were probably told a quick bit about our history."

"Yeah, your _mother_ told me." She emphasized the title so Tyr would understand that she is _not_ his mother.

"So, you know about the four clans?" She nodded, "Well, from when we are young, even if you aren't of the same blood, you were taught to always address your clans Matriarch as Mother." Tyr finished.

So Astrid has become a mother. And not the kind that women normally became either. Weird. She walked over and took a seat next to him, "So...does that mean I should call you son?" She murmured.

He scoffed and held up the dagger, "As much as you may hate it, you technically could refer to me as son, child, young one. As the Mother it is your right."

"I hate being above other people..." She muttered. He nodded, "I know. However, this is a bit different. Despite that we might be the last Pretors, I'll still kick your ass if you get out of line, Mother or not."

She smiled, "You wouldn't have done that to your mom though, right?"

He looked at her like she had fifteen heads and a tail, "You're kidding, right? She would have skinned me alive and used the skin for a shawl."

She smiled viciously, "And who say's I won't?" He gave her a fake quiver of the lips before scoffing, "I would run away from you. I wouldn't dare run away from my mom, and my Mother. Filial piety and all that."

She tilted her head a bit, "Filial piety? What's that?"

He took a small flask from a bag he was carrying and sipped it, "Filial piety is an old tradition that is essentially the mantra of the Pretor clan. Did mom not tell you about it?"

Astrid shook her head, but she felt good about this. A mantra, something she could stress, something she could teach her children about. Something to dedicate herself to.

"Filial piety is the idea that one should _always _respect his or her parents and ancestors above all." He paused to drink, "However, my spin on it is backwards. I respect ancestors first, then parents. Same thing essentially."

"Wait...did you say that we _might _be the last Pretors? So your whole family isn't dead?" He gave her an annoyed look, "No. _my_ family is dead. Apart from you of course. There may be other members of _Clan_ Pretor. Did mom not tell you this either?"

She ran this through her mind, "No, she left that part out." She said absentmindedly. He huffed before falling silent. The two of them sat in that comfortable silence for almost ten minutes before Tyr broke it.

He offered his flask to her, "Want some?" She took it and took a sniff from the lip.

"It smells like...peach." She said. She decided to be brave and took a sip. The barrage of sweetness that assaulted her mouth caught her off guard and she spluttered, "What is that?!"

He laughed, "The first alcohol I ever had. It's also my favorite. You just had peach sake. Good isn't it?"

Despite the fact that the it had been so sweet that it seemed like it hurt...she did like it. It was smooth and clear, and it didn't burn going down like mead. She nodded and took another drink. Now, being prepared for the sweetness, she reveled in the drink. It was absolutely amazing.

He laughed at her face as the alcohol got into her system, "Careful now. I make strong sake. That flask right there will put you on your back for ten hours. Sip it. Don't chug it." She nodded, unwilling to speak while her mouth still had the sweet aftertaste.

After a few minutes, and a few more sips, she felt like speaking again, "How do you make it?" She asked.

He shrugged, "In a still that I built on Berk. I need special rice, but I managed to find a contact from the trader who sells it. The peaches is my own little addition. Gives it a little excitement and flavor."

She stared at the flask in wonder, "That's...so delicious."

"Glad you like it. Now give it back." He said, holding his hand out to take back his precious sake.

She began to move the flask towards him, but a thought crept into her mind.

"Actually...I think I'll keep it." She said slyly, carefully watching his face for a reaction. She was pleased to see his eyes widen a bit and his nostrils flare briefly before his mask took over once more and he withdrew his hand. She giggled to herself and sipped the sake again. Normally, she would not use her new status to keep Tyr's alcohol, but there was a slight possibility that she really, really wanted to drink herself to oblivion. Her problems would go away for like, hours.

"Anyway, when I said that there might be other Pretors, I mean this. Each of the four clans had a namesake family. For example, Clan Pretor got it's name from my family. However, the clans were large, composed of several families. Just so happened that the Pretors started the clan way back when."

"So there could be other members of Clan Pretor still alive?" She asked.

He stared off into the trees, "I don't know. I really doubted for all these years, and still do doubt, that Soram and his men managed to capture or kill every living Keeper. My family is dead, but I don't think that the Keepers are. Never had a chance to go find out either."

She looked at the ground intently as she took another sip from the flask, "Yeah...your mom certainly didn't mention anything like that."

Tyr rolled his eyes, "Figure's that the old lady would leave all the important stuff out. Love how she leaves me to explain the Blēḍa to you."

"So explain it." Astrid said, turning her eyes on him. He looked at the ground reluctantly, spitting something under his breathe before looking up at her again.

"I don't want you to do this, Astrid. I don't really care what my mom or anyone else told you. The Oath is the most dangerous path to take, for either of your goals."

She visibly bristled. If there was one thing she hated, was for someone to tell her that she can't do something. Maybe Tyr wasn't aware either, but Astrid had only first heard of this 'Oath' about twenty minutes ago. Eighteen of those she had spent talking to him.

"Tyr, I don't even know what it entails, much less how it solves anything. Please, tell me. What is this Oath of Blades?"

Tyr took a deep breath before tipping forward onto his knees. "The Oath of Blades, the Blēḍa kī Śapatha, is an ancient rite created by the first Keeper clans to recognize essentially anything. Once someone undertook the Oath, nobody could question it. Nobody could deny it. To break it meant certain death."

Astrid shook her head, "So, if it's so permanent, so unquestionable, so dangerous why is it so...universal? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but you can legitimize _anything_ with this? Why couldn't just anybody do it for any reason?" She asked. He nodded and then shook his head, "Yes and no. You can legitimize anything, but it's not so easy to do."

He closed his eyes, "Only a Matriarch could bless an Oath. Then, only those approved by the hosting Matriarch could administer it."

Astrid scratched her cheek, her brain processing the information, "So, wouldn't it have just been as easy as convincing your own clans Matriarch to bless an Oath?"

Tyr shook his head, "No Mother wants her children to die, Astrid. During the Blēḍa...it is...easy, to get killed...Mom can tell you how many Oath's have been taken in the last hundred years and how many died."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't know." For whatever reason, which she couldn't even begin to explain, she thought he was lying. Something deep down told her that he wasn't telling the truth about that particular fact. She shook it off.

"So, that aside...how would I do this? You just said I need a Matriarch to bless it."

He eyed her expectantly, "Mother...you are a Matriarch. You can bless it yourself, if need be." He said. She scrunched her face and put a hand to her head, "Please, Tyr. _Don't_ call me that...it's so weird."

His eyes visibly dimmed, "Sorry...old habits died hard I guess...anyway, you can bless any Oath. Any. I don't even need to teach you the tenants, and you can bless the rite itself."

"The tenants?" She asked. Even as she spoke, the nagging feeling of being lied to singed her mind. She tried to shake it off again, hoping that it was just her own mind playing games.

"The tenants are symbols, intricate markings that define the Oath." He confirmed. His face stayed in a stony visage, not betraying any thoughts or emotions.

"Wait, you said I know these tenants. How?" She asked. He just smirked and held his hand out.

"Could you please lend me your longblade?" Astrid reached down instinctively and grabbed the handle, whipping it out and flipping it, catching it on the blade and passing it handle first to Tyr.

The man took it with a smile and carved some symbols into the dirt in front of him. Five minutes later, two short lines of symbols lay scratched into the dirt. Tyr motioned for her to stand at one end and centered his eyes to hers, "Translate."

"What do you mean? Tyr I can't!" She cried, looking at the symbols with confusion. He cocked an eyebrow at her, "Yes. You can. Focus. You can speak the words, now you must read them."

Astrid looked at the scratches with curiosity and building frustration. These damn things made no sense!

"Tyr! I can't read these!" She yelled. He sighed, "Mothe...Astrid, we Keepers revere who more than anything? Think about filial piety." He said. Her mind ran back to what he told her. _Respect ones parents and ancestors...Ancestors..._

"Wait, is this in...Antenati?" She asked. He simply nodded, "Why do you think only a Matriarch can bless the Oath? All the Matriarchs could both speak and write in Antenati, something most Keepers couldn't do. So, try again to read these."

She focused on the scratchings, trying to eke out the meaning to them. Each symbol flowed endlessly into the others, forming one long phrase. As she deciphered the symbols, a message sprang forth from the dirt.

"I shall live this life in eternal servitude to the mighty God, Soram." She read aloud. Tyr's face wrinkled in fury as she said the words, his eyes wide and hard, staring at the dirt. She looked at him cautiously, ready to run to her bag and grab the Black Crystal shard.

He had to know it was there, but she didn't dare mention it. Even after rationalizing that their fight was his fault and not hers, she still felt terrible about the shard. Felt terrible about what it did to him, and felt even worse when he just sat there and bore the pain.

"Tyr...are you alright?" She said worriedly. His furious face had not subsided at all, and she was frightened that maybe he was having a flare.

"Yes...just hard memories is all..." He mumbled, closing his eyes and taking deep breathes.

"About Soram?" She ventured before mentally slapping herself. Of course about Soram you stupid idiot! The mans name was in the words on the dirt!

She gave him a few minutes to compose himself, staying silent and watching his every twitch, his every movement, studying the man that had changed her world. All in a years time.

Finally, he opened his eyes and met hers. The silver that was usually hard and piercing was now soft. He looked like he was in pain, "Tyr...is it the shard?" He shook his head.

"No, Mother...you asked why the Oath is so dangerous? Why it is so...definite?" She nodded. He didn't say anything more but turned on his knees till he was facing away from her.

"Mother...are you really going to do this? This is the final word. The final test. Are you sure?" Even with his back turned, she could tell...no, _feel_ his tears. Even though she felt for him, she needed to do this.

"Yes, Tyr...this is what I want. If its the best way, then its the only way."

She gasped as she saw him lift his shirt off, his long black hair hanging to the middle of his muscled back, the single braid hanging just past his ear.

"If you must know. If you are fully intent on taking this path, for yourself, for your love, then look beneath my hair. You will see why I do not let others touch it."

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**How was it? Boring? Exciting? Suspenseful? Terrible beyond comparison? Let me know in a review please! And my poll, please take it! Have a good day!**


	17. Risk and Reward

**Hello readers! This was the winner of the poll (despite that some ppl chose to PM me instead of voting on my profile) so this is a RuffXFish fluffy chapter! Unfortunately, it wasn't as much fluff as I planned, but it does present more chances to expand upon later. I'm sorry if it does not live up to expectation, but I need to get moving on the Keeper Arc.**

**A good deal of people are still dying to know what the Oath of Blades is. So, enjoy this and your curiosity will soon be sated!**

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Statistics. Information. Numbers. Facts. These are all the things that Fishlegs needed to survive, to be happy with his lot. If he could quantify and identify something, he was happy. He could always statistically prove the chances of something working or not working. He knew how to play an x-factor into the equation and still judge a situation. Calculating risk and reward was his approach to life.

Then there was Ruffnut Thorston. For all his insane ability to compute stats and his walking dictionary disposition, she was the one thing that he could not compute. It was like he ceased to function when she was around.

When she walked past, every statistic and fact dropped of a cliff in his mind and he blanked. Whenever she smiled, his brain melted and his legs turned to jelly. She didn't even have to smile at him specifically.

He couldn't classify her. At all. Normally, he classified his friends and the people he knew solely because he had to. He couldn't bear _not_ classifying them, and he did so with various factors. Astrid had always been a ten in temper, speed and punch force. He behaved carefully around her.

Hiccup was a ten in intelligence, conviction and creativity. Snotlout was a ten in ego and nothing else. Tuffnut was a ten in mischief, borderline stupidity and also in ego.

Ruffnut though, was an unknown. Entirely. It drove him madder than Hel. His obsession with classifying everyone _except_ her ran him up walls. Constantly. Every time he set himself to the task of classifying her, he would take one look at her and shut off. His world would get hazy, and everything blurred. Except her. It was...both frustrating and amazing.

He was sitting in the Great Hall in Metal Hook with half a chicken steaming in front of him. It had been a few hours since Tyr had given Astrid's challenge to Hiccup. The silver eyed Keeper had gone back into the forest right after, not hanging around long enough for questions.

Fishlegs had been concerned about Astrid, as any friend would be, but he was also growing concern for the stability of the group. No matter what any of them thought about Astrid and Hiccup, and arguably their ever present love, it was the mortar that held everyone together.

If the mortar was going through such stress, how would that affect the other bricks in the wall?

He tried to pay it no mind and eat in peace. The Hall had decent food, but it was nothing compared to the pork and mead nights in Meade Hall back home. The chicken was alright, but too lightly spiced while too heavily roasted. A bit crispy, too.

"Hi, Fish." He nearly jumped out of his seat. He'd been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn't seen Ruffnut approaching. He quickly regained his composure, "Oh, hey Ruff."

She smiled at him. His brain proceeded to melt, "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Not at all, please do."

She sat down with a mug of something in her hand. Probably mead. No...definitely mead. She didn't drink anything else, barring water of course. He resumed picking apart the chicken, just flashing looks at her every few seconds.

She was quiet, which was off for her, whether Tuffnut was around or not. She wasn't downing mead like she was going to die either. Another oddity.

"Ruff...are you ok?" He asked nervously, unsure how to proceed. Consolation was something he didn't have much practice in, so he didn't really know what to say if she was upset.

She sighed, which in its own way was terrible for him to hear, "Yeah, I guess...just worried."

He cocked an eyebrow, "About Hiccup and Astrid?"

She nodded, "Yeah...I mean, what if they don't figure it out? The cornerstone couple of Berk, of the dragon riders, will be shattered. How do we recover from that?" She mused. Her hands and face were paler than usual, meaning one or more of several things.

She either wasn't sleeping, or she was sick, or wasn't eating. Maybe all of those. Maybe none. One thing was for certain though; she had just spoken about something that he could prove. Statistically.

"Eighty eight percent of the time, Hiccup will apologize and everything will go back to normal. Ninety seven percent of the time, either Hiccup or Tyr will be physically abused and things will go back to normal. One hundred percent of the time: Astrid and Hiccup will stay together." He analyzed confidently. His heart dropped when her face stayed down.

"But what if they don't figure it out like that? What if this goes on for awhile?"

He chuckled to himself, "Fifty nine percent of the time, Hiccup will be stubborn for a week, then relent. Sixty six percent of the time, they will argue constantly before Tyr steps in and beats some sense into them. Eighty two percent of the time, they will argue, mysteriously reconcile in private, and then things will go back to normal."

Her eyes met his, "Mysteriously reconcile?"

He blushed for a moment. This was not a topic he was familiar with, "Er...Tyr referred to it as 'make up' sex." The usual Ruffnut would have roared with laughter for hours with this revelation, but she just returned her eyes to the table.

"So...they'll stay together?" She asked softly. He smiled confidently, "Yeah. All the statistics say so. The margin of anomaly's in those stats is less than a percent."

She took a sip from her mead, her lips parting barely to drink. Her face didn't pick up any hint of elation from his guarantee. Admittedly, he wasn't sure how much faith one could put on this particular set of stats. Hiccup had really crossed the line with drugging Azure. Who knows how hard Astrid took it. None of them knew.

Really, the only person who did know was Tyr. And he was rather...scarce, at the moment. Fishlegs sat in an awkward silence with Ruffnut, neither one doing much apart from breathing. Things were tense.

"Um...are you feeling better from the forest...?" Fish ventured. Her breakdown at the clearing where Astrid was captured was sudden and intense. When Tyr slapped her silly, it just made things weirder.

She drooped more. Something he thought was impossible at this point, "Well...I guess I feel better."

"Is it because of what Tyr said? To get over it?" He asked.

Her face curled into an angry snarl, "Tyr didn't help at all. Not all of us can just forget cold blooded murder like he can. Its not so damn simple as just 'getting over it'." She hissed before getting up quickly.

"Wait! I'-" And she was gone. Out the door quicker than he could even apologize.

_Fuck!_ He yelled at himself. She's still sensitive about all that stuff! Him and his stupid mouth. Shutting his trap and letting her speak first was his best route, but he didn't want her to think that he was...timid.

Apart from the fact that anyone would put timid at the very end of a Fishlegs Ingerman trait list, he had heard somewhere that women don't like timid men. Admittedly, it had been Snotlout, but it was more than Fishlegs himself had to go on, so he rolled with it.

Nothing more to do now than finish eating and get back to the long ship. Murk had made it clear that he wanted to speak to them about something, and that meeting was supposed to be on the ship in about an hour.

XXX

The proposed meeting was in all actuality less of a meeting and more of a mission dispatch. Murk was concerned about the mercenary army that Lakka had called to her side while she planned to invade Metal Hook, and he now wanted the riders to head out and scout for any signs.

If they found anything, the were to get back as soon as possible to warn Murk and his soldiers. Murk would not give up his village and island without a fight. The chief wasn't exactly thrilled by the absence of the de facto leaders of their group, but he didn't press the matter. Sharkshand made him plenty aware that the other four could do things just fine.

Snotlout and Tuffnut were sent to the port itself to check if the mercenaries were still in the camp stage while Fishlegs and Ruffnut were to scout the known hunting paths for any signs of moving mercs.

Not a difficult task by any stretch of the imagination, but he was as tense as could be. Being alone with her, even as friends on a mission was driving his mind off a cliff. Because she and Tuffnut could not separate and fly Barf and Belch, she was riding on Meatlug with him, her slender arms wrapped as far as they could go around his barrel chest.

He was lucky in that she hadn't spoken all that much, so he didn't find a need to attempt to start conversation. Hopefully that worked out for him.

After almost an hour on the fly, she began to speak. At first, they were just general things like the weather, home, their friends. How long it would be before they got back to Berk, how Tyr was a heartless bastard and other such nonsense. Truthfully, he began to tune it out.

Then her mood changed. She began to talk about the Ardni Invasion. About her own life, and personal things. She told him about how she had almost legitimately killed Tuffnut during one of their games. She told him about how boys never chased her because they were always after Astrid.

How even with her families status as matchmakers for Berk, she had never been dubbed 'suitable' by the families of eligible boys. Despite that a marriage with a Thorston brought incredible wealth with it, nobody had ever wanted to be with her.

He was bursting in the saddle to spill his feelings like an unstoppable tide. Everything she was telling him about the things that nobody felt for her, were the things that _he_ felt for her. Every day.

He didn't give a Terror's ass about money, but he would kill just about anything with his bare hands if need be to have her. Despite all the talk amongst other boys his age that she was too loose to have a husband, he believed that if she was truly happy, that would change. He believed that he could make her truly happy. He just didn't know how. Yet.

He was taken by surprise when she started talking somberly about Vrack. She never, ever spoke about him or that night when she could help it.

"Fish, could you land please?" Her voice was wavering. He, who paid close attention to her whenever he could, knew that she was tearing. He urged his Gronckle to the ground and hopped off. Extending his arms, he easily lifted her slim frame off the dragon.

"Thanks..." She mumbled before settling her back against a tree. He stood silently, pretending to tighten the buckles on Meatlug.

"You know, Fish. I love being around you." She said quietly, her eyes on his back. He turned slowly, a curious look in his eyes. He would say something, but the fact of the matter was.

He was terrified of saying the wrong thing.

She giggled at his look, "You don't talk..."

"I talk sometimes." He said defensively.

She rolled her eyes, "Well, yeah of course. But you don't expound about yourself all the time. You never interrupt, you never come around with corny one liners that make girls just want to beat your skull in."

"I rather like my skull the way it is." He said simply, returning his fake attention to the saddle. His mind was taken away by the magical sound of her laughter.

"See? That's what I mean! You never say anything beyond what you need to. Guys are so hard to find like that. Especially now."

He turned his eyes to hers, "What does that mean?" He asked.

She shrugged, "I was always so easy with guys. They never presented a challenge to me. Getting in and out of relationships was as easy as saying hello."

He winced. That was what most guys said about her. That she was loose. "And?" He inquired.

"Well...since Vrack, it hasn't been like that. I'm...too scared."

"Scared? Scared of what?"

"Scared of things happening. Scared of what happened to Vrack. Scared that it might happen again. I have nightmares. All the time now. Tuffnut doesn't even sleep in the same room as me anymore because I always wake him."

That was saying something. The Thorston twins had shared a room since birth. "Do they ever stop?"

She shook her head, "No. Well, not really. I might go a week at a time without having one, but then they'll come every night for a month. Sometimes only glimpses, but other times the whole night."

She started to quietly cry. He could barely make out the sniffs and subsequent sobs. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, "No need to cry, Ruff...It's alright."

"No it's not alright, Fish. I need someone there, need someone to make me forget Vrack, but I'm too scared of what will happen." _Now or never._ He thought. For the first time in his life, he would act without calculating risk and reward.

Lifting her chin slightly, he softly pressed his lips against hers. The short, tender kiss was salty from her tears, but he didn't mind. Her eyes, a bit red from her crying were set on his, fear and hope shining through at the same time.

"I'll make you forget him, no matter how long it takes." She didn't answer him but did take refuge in his outstretched arms, her tears being soaked up by hist vest.

* * *

**Zomg! How was it? This is the first time that I tried to write RuffxFish, so let me know how I did!**


	18. Reunion

**OMG guys! I wrote this in a single day! Dunno why, but it just flowed correctly from my brain to my fingers. This chapter has so many little bits of information that will carry through the rest of the Keeper Arc that I hope I haven't given my story away.**

**Anyway. I hope you readers can enjoy this and the next chapter will be coming soon!**

* * *

Hiccup woke up the day of the "duel" with apprehension. Despite his show of confidence and assurance in front of Tyr yesterday, he was unsure if he could go through with it.

He wasn't worried about Astrid beating him like a sack of potatoes. He was certain that she couldn't lay a finger on him anymore, but he would take a beating without complaint. Actually, taking a beating might be the easiest way out of this.

He was afraid of hurting her. Doing something that would stain their relationship in a physical way. Marking her. Not in the good sense, like hickey's or bright red hand prints of her butt after a frenzied round of sex, no.

He was afraid of leaving her scars. Leaving something that everyone could see and say 'look what Haddock did to that poor girl.' Her scars, how very few she had, were gladly hidden. Her hip was obviously hidden, and she had tiny scars on her knees and hands, but other than that she had none.

His morning routine did not change with his impending feud with Astrid, everything flowing the same, minus one difference.

He now had the wedding rink to look at as well as the empty bedside. To anyone else, it really didn't change anything, but to him, it changed everything. It meant that Astrid was playing no games. She was serious about this.

Finishing his longing stares, Hiccup made his way to the deck. It was early; before the sun had even risen, so things were dark and silent. He had arranged it this way so that Murk would have no need to question what was happening. Things went Hiccups way, they would be back before breakfast.

He moved silently across the deck to the base of the mast where he sat down, facing east. Recently, he had grown to love the sunrise and watching it made him feel normal. Like he wasn't going to duel his girlfriend in a matter of hours.

Seeing it for the first time in a few weeks felt like seeing an old friend. For years, it was the only friend he had while Berk treated him like a mistake. The sunrise only listened, never judged, and always shone bright with the light of a new day.

He remembered swearing by the sunrise that, even with all the torture and ridicule, if he could see Astrid smile once, it had been a good day. After the Dragon Queen and becoming official with Astrid, he had sworn by the sunrise that, even with all his shortcomings and mild idiocy, if he could make Astrid smile not once but many times, it had been a good day.

He heard footsteps as the sun began to peek over the horizon. They weren't very loud, but the time between each indicated someone with a long stride. Someone tall.

"You're up early." He said to the sky.

"You said be here at first light," Tyr replied, leaning against the mast next to Hiccup, "I would have been late, but Astrid said she would skin my feet and cover them in salt if I wasn't here on time."

Hiccup laughed softly. Astrid would always be a task master. "You told her about me wanting to come today?"

"Of course, but plans have changed, Hiccup. I don't think you two will be dueling anymore."

Hiccup was on his feet in a second, his face hard and his eyes steely on Tyr's own, "What do you mean?"

Tyr shrugged, "Exactly what I said. I didn't come here to pick you up, Hiccup. Astrid is coming back here to the ship when she wakes. The duel is off."

Hiccups eyes narrowed, "Why?"

Tyr pointed to some crates, "Lets take a seat, shall we?" Hiccup nodded and the two men went over, sitting down on crates facing each other. Hiccup didn't say anything, but his stern face communicated his question effectively.

Tyr sighed, "Things have changed Hiccup. Astrid is now much more than your fiancée from Berk." Hiccups heart didn't know how to react because nothing really definitive was said. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"Continue."

"You need to know this first: The Keepers, my people, are organized into four clans which are led by Matriarchs. Pretor is one of those clans."

"Okay."

"Astrid is the last living female of the Pretor bloodline."

"How." It was a statement, a demand. No question.

"Do you remember the night that she was attacked by the Nightmare in Meade Hall?"

"Vividly."

"The medicinal paste that I put on her wound was not all medicinal. Because of the Drakonicus, I have personally always healed pretty fast. I thought that putting my own blood in the mix would speed her healing."

"Makes sense." Hiccup would have elaborated, but he was too focused on listening rather than talking right now.

"So my blood, the Pretor blood, flows through Astrid's veins. Technically speaking, she is my sister now."

"Ingrid is going to kill you."

"Don't remind me. Anyway, because she is the last surviving woman of my family, Astrid has become the new Matriach of Clan Pretor."

"Wonderful. What does that mean?"

"You are taking this startlingly well."

"I'm saving all my hysterics for when you are finished."

"Makes sense. Anyway. I do believe that you can speak to your ancestors, no?"

Hiccup nodded, "Spoke to my mother yesterday before you came."

"Good. As she is a Pretor now, Astrid can speak to mine. She got the whole rundown of being a Matriarch from my mother, who was the previous Matriarch before she died."

"You mean before you killed her." Hiccup immediately regretted the stab. Whenever something terrible happened to Astrid that was Tyr's fault, the man always came first and early to explain himself. This conversation was going much like the one that was the prelude to the Ardni Invasion. Hiccup was not pleased.

Tyr's bristling features didn't relax, "Whatever. My mom told Astrid of something that Matriarchs have the power to do. Something that will solidify any bond. Now, Astrid wants to do it. I want you to stop her."

"And how in Thor's beard am I going to do that?"

Tyr scoffed, "Talk to her. Talk her out of it. I don't want her to do it, Hiccup. She could die. So could you."

"I'll gladly die for her."

"You're not helping."

"And you are?" Hiccup was never cynical, but he couldn't help it. This all just sounded like Tyr got them involved in a ton of shit that was entirely unnecessary.

"I'm trying to convince you to not let her go through with it."

"Last time I didn't let her do what she wants, this whole catastrophe went down. So why don't you do that?"

"Because I fucking can't, Hiccup!" He replied stiffly. His eyes were smoldering with anger and frustration.

"Why not?"

Tyr threw his hands up and began to pace, "Because...well...she's my Matriarch. I can't say yay or nay to her." He mumbled angrily. Hiccup didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for the man's plight.

"So what is this 'thing' that Astrid wants to do now?" He asked.

"It's called the Oath of Blades. Very dangerous."

"An Oath that's dangerous? Doesn't sound dangerous." He replied. What about saying a bunch of words is dangerous?

"Oh it is dangerous Hiccup. She could die. She wants you to do it with her, so you could die." Tyr said, kicking a bucket furiously.

"Tyr, no oath that I know of is dangerous. I'll do it with her. Nothing wrong with saying a few words by the gods."

"It's not that simple, Hiccup. It's ancient magic. Keeper magic."

"You still haven't told me what it entails, Tyr." Hiccup said, his voice flat. His eyes hadn't stopped following Tyr since they began talking. Toothless could have transformed into a human, done a jig and changed back and Hiccup wouldn't have noticed.

"She didn't want me to. Said that she wants to talk to you about it first." The silver eyed man replied. His pacing was getting faster. He was getting madder by the second, but Hiccup couldn't understand why.

"Well that's fine. I'll do any simple oath with her. Sounds like she got ove-"

"Hiccup! She wants you to fucking _carve_ an Oath into her fucking _neck_!" Tyr roared, slamming his foot down on the deck, cracking the thick oak planks like they were sticks. He reached into his tunic and pulled out a steel dagger. Grabbing his hair, he sliced off his long locks right above his neck and knelt down, facing away from Hiccup.

Hiccup's stomach lurched and he retched right onto the deck next to him before getting up and backing away slowly. From the base of his skull going down all the way to the middle of his back, _perilously _close to his spine, were runes. Runes that had been carved into Tyr's skin.

"This is what she wants you to do to her! This is the Oath of Blades! I was forced to take one against my will and somehow survived, and now she wants to do it to cement your love!" Tyr yelled again, standing up and staring at Hiccup, fire in his bright silver eyes.

"What?" Hiccup and Tyr both spun and froze. Every member of the entourage from Berk stood on the deck of the ship. Sharkshand, Ingrid, Marcais, the Twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout stood aghast. Ingrid had spoken, but even so her mouth hung open.

Tyr seemed unfazed, "Maybe you can speak some sense into her foolish mind, Ingrid. She can't do this! She'll die!"

"How did she come to this wild conclusion, Tyr? How does she know what it is?" Ingrid asked. Tyr spat on the deck, "I told her. She wanted to kn-"

He didn't finish as a gurgled cry rang out. Sharkshand had rushed forward and grabbed Tyr by the neck, pinning him against the mast, "Why did you tell her about this madness?" He yelled into the Keepers face.

"She's my Matriarch! I couldn't say no!" He sputtered as Sharkshand's massive vice grew ever tighter around his neck. Tyr was indeed strong; but there were few men as strong as Sharkshand. The father of the Ingerman's was the only man to have ever bested Stoick in a competition of strength.

"You could have said no, Tyr. You come here now, begging us to say no to her, but that wouldn't be necessary if you had plead stupidity and not told her of this. You chose to tell her." Sharkshand rumbled.

"What's this about her being your Matriarch?" Ingrid asked, her eyes wide and burning.

Sharkshand lightened his grip enough for his prisoner to speak, "I gave her some of my demon blood to heal her! She is the last woman alive with Pretor blood flowing in her veins! She is the Clan Matriarch! I can never say no!"

"Demon blood? Did you infect her with your dragon, Tyr?" Sharkshand demanded. Tyr shook his head as much as he could, "No. There is none of the Drakonicus within her. I carry that curse alone."

Hiccup was speechless. What kind of madness was this? Demon blood? Oath of Blades? Carving runes into someones back? His mind was racing, but his heart was somewhere else. Probably on the deck somewhere rolling around after he threw it up.

"Tyr, do you remember what I told you about hurting my daughter or her husband?" Ingrid said in a voice that was entirely unlike her. It was low and dangerous, almost murderous.

Tyr couldn't even speak at this point, Sharkshand knuckles turning white as they squeezed. Ingrid climbed a stairway to the helm, where she took a giant, serrated harpoon from beneath the wheel. It was Sharkshands' personal weapon.

"I told you that I would kill anyone who hurt my daughter. I lost one, and I will not lose another." She mused, approaching the pinned man like she would a pig that is about to be hung over the spit.

Sharkshand stepped to the side, giving Ingrid a clear view of Tyr's chest. She raised the harpoon. "I'm sorry, Tyr. You don't deserve to die this way."

XXX

Astrid woke to find Tyr gone from the camp. He was probably on his way to the ship to tell Hiccup that she would be coming back. The duel was the last thing on her mind, as it wasn't happening. She had cast that out long ago. She wasn't in the greatest of moods, her dreams having been tormented by the Oath.

Finding out what it really was had been a shock. Seeing the carved runes on Tyr's back had thrown her for more than a loop; it actually raised doubt in her mind. Could she actually survive something like that?

The first answer was no. Being the close to the spine, a single slip and she was dead. Once a spinal cord was gone, that's it. Stasi wouldn't work; she had been alive when that spell had been cast. Tyr must have been barely alive when she did it, but he was alive.

Medicinal paste wouldn't work, no matter how much demon blood was in it. Accelerated healing couldn't fix a spine.

Tyr hadn't been joking when he said that very few survive it. She was even more surprised, and horrified, to find that Tyr had one carved into his own back. However, the story was far more tragic.

* * *

"_Why did you take an Oath?" Astrid asked, her mouth still ajar at seeing the symbols on his neck. He covered them back up and faced her, a somber mask on his features._

"_I didn't choose to take it. Soram forced my mother to bless it, then had my father administer it. He had me chained down while my father carved the runes into my back. The Oath must be cut by dragon bone, and my father had the only dagger." He replied, his eyes shiny from tell tale tears._

"_The words, they guaranteed Soram safety, namely from you, didn't they?" Astrid asked softly, even though she knew that answer. She had read the runes on the mans back._

"_Yes. They state that I can never strike a killing blow on Soram. Ever." _

"_Then how did you kill him? None of us did it." _

"_The Drakonicus took Soram's life, not me. I only stole the sword so Soram could not use the crystal."_

_Astrid ran this through her mind, "Isn't that the same thing though? Isn't the Drakonicus you, and you it?"_

_Tyr shook his head, "No. We live in the same body, but our souls are separate. The Oath binds a single soul to its law; my soul was bound, the demon's was not."_

"_So you cannot break the Oath? No matter what?"_

_He smiled, but it was a slightly sadistic smile, "Oh you can. If the Oath is erased, you can either leave it or write a new one. However. Can you erase scars, Astrid? I can't."_

"_So it's permanent."_

"_I warned you. The Oath is the final act, the last test. Would it be hopeful of me to ask you again not to do this?"_

"_You would have better luck asking Freyja to marry you."_

"_Who is Freyja?"_

"_Nevermind."_

* * *

She shuddered at the memory and went about gathering her meager belongings at the camp. Apart from what was immediately on Azure's saddle when Tyr gave her the antidote for the drug, she had little else with her. A woolen roll for sleeping, pretty much. Then she had to put the saddle on Azure, a rather tedious task because this particular saddle had too many damn buckles. Courtesy of an overprotective boyfriend.

She was tightening the buckles when she suddenly got real dizzy. She stepped back from Azure and held her head in her hands, softly rubbing her temples in small circles. When her eyes opened again, the dizziness was gone, but someone else was in her vision.

"Astrid! You have to hurry back to the ship!" Kia cried as she materialized right in front of Azure.

Astrid's eyes were wide open in surprise, "Kia? Why so urgent? What's happening back at the ship?"

"My brother told Hiccup about the Oath and everyone else heard! A big guy has Tyr pinned against the mast and your mom is about to kill him with a giant harpoon!"

Sharkshand. No matter how strong Tyr was, he would never be able to break the sailors grip. To compound things, the look in Kia's eyes was one of pure terror, something Astrid didn't think a spirit capable of.

She sped through the remaining buckles, tightening some of them too much, and Azure complained, but that could wait. She thanked the spirit and spurred Azure into the air. By dragon, it would take her no more than ten minutes to reach the long ship. But even that seemed far too long. She just hoped the Tyr's survivalist nature took over, or one of the others tried to stop her mom.

The frigid wind of the early morning whipped by, bringing the chill in her bones to a max. It might seem premature or even stupid of her, but for whatever reason, she feared for Tyr's life. Not as her friend, but as her family. Somewhere in her, she feared for her child.

The wind's cold bite reversed, and now blew from behind her and Azure. What luck. Now Azure would fly faster, and every second counted. To the east, the first rays of sunlight were snaking across the wide oceans. She knew Hiccup. He would have been on deck watching the sunrise today. He thought they were going to duel, and the sunrise gave him comfort.

Odin knows that it gave her no comfort now. Azure seemed to sense her riders urgency and flapped harder, the dim morning light soon revealing the port of Metal Hook. Twice as big as the village of Berk, but compressed. The population here might have been three or four times that of Berk itself.

The big difference was that there were no night patrols in Metal Hook. Once the sun went down and the Great Hall closed its doors, the port was pitch black. Astrid was grateful for that this morning. If the guards, and namely that awful Kagg Stromson discovered this, things would be much harder for them.

As she approached the long ship, her heart fell. It was deserted. Kia had said that everyone was on the deck because Tyr had been pinned to the mast. With nobody on the deck, it seemed like whatever happened, happened fast and everyone scattered. Or they went to bury a body.

_Don't think like that!_ She berated herself and pointed Azure to the deck. The Nadder landed with a thud and Astrid jumped off, searching the deck for any signs of struggle, any blood or scratching in the wood.

Her heart skipped at least three beats when she found the cracked planks over near the crates. Out of the members of the crew, only two could do that kind of damage. Tyr and Sharkshand. Fishlegs maybe, but the former two could definitely do it.

"Astrid!" She turned quickly and saw Ruffnut jogging towards her.

"Ruff! Where is everyone? And...and why is their blood on you!?"Astrid felt her lungs clench and her heart do a flip. Ruffnut had blood stains on her hands and forearms, and on the front of her shirt.

"Relax! Some shit went down and Fishlegs got a nasty slice. Chill. Anyway, what the fucks up with this Oath shit? You want to carve something into your neck?"

Astrid breathed a deep sigh of relief. Mixed relief. Tyr was safe, she thought, but Fishlegs got hurt. Dammit. As to the questions about the Oath, she merely shook her head.

"I know it sounds weird, but I need to explain."

"Dude. Go for it. That's better than any tattoo." Ruffnut grinned as she said this. Astrid couldn't help but smile and laugh along with the female Thorston. Laughing helped her pounding heart.

"Astrid..." The voice made her stop, but made her heart beat faster than before. Ruffnut ran off for some reason, but Astrid couldn't be bothered as to why. At the opening into the galley stood Hiccup, his chestnut hair the wild untamed mess that is always is.

He stood with most of his weight on his right leg, his usual stance that he had adopted while he was healing from his nub. To not put any strain on the limb, he would favor his right side, and it just stuck, even though the limb doesn't pain him nearly as much anymore.

His mouth was a thin line as he looked at her, the bruise above his left eye glaring at her. It had gotten purple from when she kicked him. His hands hung at his sides, unsure of what to do with themselves.

He stepped closer to her slowly, his eyes set on hers in a soft stare, "Astrid...I'm...I'm sorry."

She couldn't say anything to him, not that she knew what to say anyway. Her heart was aflutter with so many different emotions that she couldn't pick one to act upon. So she did the thing she had always done when she wasn't sure.

She stepped back.

He quickened his pace to a slow stride, "Please, forgive me. I'll do anything, Astrid. I never wanted to hurt you."

She stepped back again. His pace quickened. "Please Astrid. I know what I did was wrong, and probably the biggest breach of trust that I could imagine, but I did it to try and keep you safe."

By this point, Ruffnut had alerted everyone, and the group stood on the deck watching. Tyr included. They were silent as they watched Hiccup face Astrid.

She stepped back again, only to feel her back touch wood. She had backed into the helm wall, and now there was nowhere to go. Before she could concoct an escape plan, he was right in front of her.

"Astrid. Nothing will undo my deed, but I've always learned from mistakes. I will learn from this, and I will never put you in harms way again." He said. She could smell the mint root on his breath. He must have chewed one that morning.

With her back against a wall, Astrid did what any warrior would do in her position.

She fired her right hand out, catching Hiccup on the side before he could react. Swinging her left leg low, she pushed and threw him to the deck. She spun to see who was yelling at her, but felt a hand clamp onto her shoulder. Not a hand. An iron clamp.

She was spun around by Hiccup who planted a kiss on her lips before dodging an overhead swing. She quickly dropped and swung her heel and his right foot, hoping to unbalance him, but her heel hit nothing. Hiccup had picked up his foot just in time and stepped over her kick, his hands closing on her waist and dragging her up to kiss him again.

She pushed away and feinted left. If she could get him to put his weight on the prosthetic, then he wouldn't be able to get back off in time to dodge the next kick.

He read her perfectly, lay off his left and waiting for her next move. On the occasion that her opponent doesn't fall for the feint, she would continue with her feint and attack the left side.

Shooting a quick right jab at his ribs there, she was surprised when he moved out of the way, snatched her wrist with his left hand and pulled her through, landing a peck on her cheek as she went by.

Quickly, she spun on her heel and rocketed the back of her left fist in a slap motion. Again she hit nothing and over balanced. He caught her lightly as she fell and slapped another kiss on her lips before standing her up again.

She quickly kicked at his stomach, which he sidestepped before ducking her high spin kick. When she rotated down and swept, her foot hit the steel prosthesis and stopped. He grabbed her shoulder pad, lifted her and kissed her again before catching the hay maker she had flung at his right ribs.

He swung her fist away and caught her left fisted retaliation. She saw him smirk, duck underneath her arm and yank it back painfully. Her right fist, that he had seconds before thrown back away, he caught by the wrist and held firmly behind her back.

"I believe, Astrid, that I win." He murmured before letting her go. She whirled on him.

"What the fuck was that? You can't fight! Where did that come from!?" She yelled. She was more surprised than angry. At this point, Tyr and the other riders had come over to hear Hiccups explanation. The boy shrugged, "I can't fight anyone. At all." He said simply.

"Don't l-"

"Except..._you_." He said, poking her lightly in the forehead. She took the poke like she had been struck by lightning.

"Whaddya mean, except me!? That combination beat Tyr three times in a row, and you, the worst fighter of us all, fucking cake walked it! Explain yourself Hiccup Haddock!" She screamed.

He sat down on a crate, "Alright. I can't fight anyone, at all. Fighting for me is like personal hygiene for Gobber. I just don't get it."

She crossed her arms angrily, "That doesn't answer the question! How can you not fight anyone but me!?"

"Because, _I love you_." He said. Astrid's eyes immediately softened, and her whole demeanor changed.

"What do you mean?" She asked softly.

He smiled, "I can only fight you, because I know you. I know how that beautiful head of yours thinks. I know how you will react, because I love you. I need to know these things so you don't kill me. Tyr will never know you as well as I. I doubt even your mother does."

She took a step toward him, "So...you never wanted to stop me from searching the island again?"

He scoffed, "No! Never! I wanted you to wait until I found what was driving Azure crazy! I was going to tell you but you never let me!"

"Um...just an fyi here, Fishlegs is still bleeding like a stuck pig downstairs...maybe we should, uh...you know...go patch him up some more?" Ruffnut said slowly, looking around at everyone.

Astrid didn't even turn around, "Tyr, go fix up Fishlegs. I know you know how to, so no complaints."

"But Astrid, I want t-"

"Now."

He scampered off at her tone. Hiccup watched the tall man run off like a scolded child, "Since when can you do that?" He asked, amused. He began to stand up to follow the Keeper.

"Did he tell you about me being the new Matriarch?" Hiccup nodded, "Yeah. He has to listen to me. Period. You're not off the hook yet, mister, so sit down." She said as she pushed him back down onto the crate.

"What else do you want from me?" He asked. He would give her his other leg if they could forget this whole mess.

"My ring back. Gimme." He grinned as he stood and took the band from his pocket, sliding it onto her finger. "Welcome back, Mrs. Haddock." He said before pulling her into a hug.

She planted a light kiss on his neck, "I never left."

* * *

**Didja like it? Didja? Didja? As I said before, there are a lot of little tidbits that will come into play a couple chapters down the road. I was going to scrap the fight, but I really wanted to do it, so I decided on a protracted one. I hope it didn't mess up the flow of the chapter. Enjoy!**


	19. Technicalities

**Hello readers! Sorry this chapter took so long :/ I hashed out the first half in two days, then my muse went kaput. THen I moved into a new apartment. Then school started for me. Just a long list of setbacks, but I'm all set now!**

**This will answer a few questions that you may have had, and will give you an idea of where the story is going.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"What is wrong with you!?" Astrid screeched. She had been gone for two days at the most, then gets back and everything had gone to shit. Fishlegs had been sliced deep, from his hand to the middle of his forearm.

Tyr had done a marvelous job with treating and bandaging the wound. He was even good enough to give some of his special sake to the large boy. Not without complaints though.

"Do you feel accomplished? Do you feel like you have done any good?" She asked again, her victim sitting on the edge of the bed, head bowed in apology.

Now, with Fishlegs having downed Tyr's sake and passed out, most of the crew were taking a well deserved break from life. Snotlout, Hiccup and Tuffnut were sleeping, Tyr was sulking, Ruffnut was standing watch over Fishlegs and Sharkshand was doing something on deck.

"How could you ever think that this would be a good idea?"

Everyone was relaxing, except Astrid. Who was currently in the middle of a very loud scolding. She was scolding her own mother.

"What possibly made you think that killing Tyr was going to help?"

Ingrid sighed, "Dear, I thought that he had forced you into something that you didn't want." She said. Admittedly, Astrid was being a bit unnecessary with her yelling, but it felt good to yell at someone. She would be yelling at Hiccup later. She couldn't wait.

"Mom, even if he did, do you think that Tyr of all people would come back here without at least a few broken bones." A little cocky, but true.

"I know you can defend yourself dear, I was just scared that it might turn out like it did with Aislin."

"Hrushnir was her husband mom. Tyr is...well, Tyr. He wouldn't dare hurt me now." She said confidently, sitting down next to her mother. The two Hofferson women sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying being together once more. Yeah, Astrid had been gone for two days only, but she had been in danger for the better part of one, then she had been contemplating breaking off her engagement for the other. Not exactly a lovely time for a mother.

"Dear?"

"Yeah mom?"

"Tyr said something about you being his Matriarch now. Care to explain?" She said, her hands folded on her lap.

Astrid swallowed nervously, "Well mom...it's kind of a long story..."

"Nobody is going anywhere fast right now. I have time." Ingrid answered, getting comfortable on the bed. Astrid gulped hard and cast a worried glance at the door.

_Tyr, you better be ready to run. _She thought dryly.

XXX

Tyr sat on the railing of the ship, looking out over the calm waters. This was nothing compares to the chaos of some seas that he had sailed on while under Soram's flag.

This was nothing compared to the sea back home. Back at Rakhavālē Rēsṭa. Back at Keepers Rest, at the base of Mount Houder. Apart from his childhood memories, he knew very little about his people while he lived there.

It was mandatory for every Keeper child to learn the histories by heart, but apart from that, Tyr actually knew very little about his homeland. He knew Mount Houder and how to find it, knew his family and clan, but rarely had he ever had contact with the other clans.

His hand traveled to his neck, where light bruising was starting to color. Sharkshand's...hand had the hardest grip he had ever seen. Plus, he had been on the receiving end of it. If Fishlegs and Hiccup had not stepped in, he would be sitting in naraka with his family right now.

Ingrid had the harpoon drawn back and was ready to plunge it into his chest when Hiccup stepped in front. Sharkshand held Tyr hostage still, and listened as Hiccup explained that in no way would Tyr ever hurt Astrid.

While she had listened, Ingrid didn't notice Fishlegs approaching her. He wasn't sneaking around, but she got startled when he touched her arm, swinging the harpoon around and slicing his left forearm. As soon as the first drop of blood hit the wood, Sharkshand had dropped Tyr and clamped down on the gash.

The immense pressure of his fathers grip almost completely halted the bleeding from Fishlegs arm. The two walked calmly down into the galley to find something to bandage the wound with. Ingrid dropped the harpoon and scurried after them.

Even in his oxygen depraved state, Tyr could hear her profusely apologizing, followed by Sharkshand telling her it was fine. How it was fine that she sliced his sons arm was beyond Tyr's comprehension.

Things had been eerily quiet since then. Astrid, after losing her fight with Hiccup, had retreated down to check on Fishlegs, then disappeared into her room with Ingrid in tow.

Judging by sounds that he had been hearing, Astrid had been busy giving her mother a good old fashioned scolding. Humorous, because while she may not even know it, Astrid was acting _very_ much like a Matriarch. The Matriarch she now was. Which raised another issue.

If Astrid was so damn keen on the Oath of Blades, then she needs to bless it. While blessing it may seem simple to her, it really isn't that simple. The crystals that every Keeper got when they turned three were not just pretty trinkets. Keepers Crystal are manifestations of ancient magic, magic possessed by the first gods of creation.

The legend said that at the beginning of time, the gods created a giant leviathan to purge the world of impurities so that they could create a perfect paradise. The beast did as its masters told without question. When it finally came to purge the realm of Naraka, the underworld, it came face to face with a trickster demon. The demon whispered madness into the leviathans ear and convinced it to revolt against its creators. Convinced it that it would be annihilated with the rest of the world when the gods betrayed them.

The gods fought their creation for a millennium, but because they had made it so powerful that it could not be killed. After thousands of futile attempts, the gods convened and forged a spell to seal away this beast forever. They came together and poured their power into a giant stone seal and trapped the demon beneath it, sealing the creature in an unbreakable prison for all time.

That sealing stone was Mount Houder and the gods power, over millions of years, had leaked into the rock around the seal, making the mountain a type of...entity. One day, a large chamber was found within it, and when a man cut himself on a jagged rock, his blood seeped into the stone, and moments later crystals emerged that gave him powers beyond that of normal men.

Or so the legend went. The story said that Keepers Crystals bestowed great strength and speed, sometimes great intellect and even the power to control elements. Tyr was pretty sure that that certain piece of information was a myth.

He hadn't always worn his crystals, but whenever he did, he was certain that he never got super strength or speed or anything like that. Most of his superhuman ability came from the Drakonicus.

Regardless of his own opinions, the problem was this: Astrid, as a Matriarch, could bless an Oath, but the blessing would have no effect without magic from her own set of crystals.

As if it knew, Mount Houder differentiated between a man's blood and a woman's. At the same time, only a woman's crystals could bless an Oath. How the mountain did this was anyone's guess. Tyr didn't know the exact protocol, but his mom had filled him in on the basics of it once Astrid had decided on it.

His mother had told him that only a woman's crystals could bless an Oath. Why? She said it was similar to his curse.

Apparently, a blessing from a woman's crystals will...help with the Oath. She said that a man's crystals would reverse the effects of..._something_. Something that would ultimately result in the death of whoever was taking the Oath.

As he was told all this, Tyr realized that he was pathetically uninformed about his own people. Yeah, he was only five when he basically fucked his entire family and culture while trying to protect them, but that was just an excuse he had hid behind for all these years.

Truly, nothing he had ever spouted about the Keepers to Astrid, Hiccup and everyone else had been stone cold fact. Most of it came from vague memories that he had guessed upon. That's what really drew him to the ocean.

All this talk of Matriarch's and Oath's and Keepers Crystals had him thinking. Thinking that maybe he could...go back. Go back to where it all began. Go back to the Black Crystal Chamber, where his nightmare started.

"Tyr." He was jerked from his thoughts by the rumbled greeting. Recovering from his shock, he returned his gaze to the calm waters.

"Sharkshand." He answered. The big sailor had been trundling around the deck of the ship doing random chores. Tyr had been wondering when either he or Ingrid would approach him, for positive or not. He was interested in what the reaction would be.

Going from killing him to forgiving him be was a big jump. He wanted to see how it went.

"How's your neck?" The question caught him off guard, but on momentary consideration, it made sense.

"Open. Air is flowing through it." Sarcasm may not have been the best course, but whatever.

"I'm losing my touch, then." Sharkshand replied. Returned sarcasm. A good thing.

"No, your grip is hard as ever. How's your boy?"

"You bandaged him. You tell me."

Tyr laughed at the large mans quick responses. Sometimes, Sharkshand was a bit thick. Others though, he was as sharp as a blade.

"Good then."

"Yes, he seemed that way. The Thorston girl was more concerned than a goat on a slippery slope."

Tyr had been busy, so he hadn't taken all that much notice, but Ruffnut was indeed there the whole time.

"So she was."

After a few minutes of tense silence, Sharkshand cleared his throat, "I'm not good at this, so I'll get right to it. I'm sorry for earlier, Tyr. That was...reckless of me."

Tyr cast a quick glance at the Ingerman before looking back at the waters, "I've had people threatening to kill me since I was five, Sharkshand. As long as I'm still breathing, no hard feelings. I would have done the same to protect someone I care for."

Once again, Sharkshand had his reply ready, "Speaking of someone you care for, what is this Matriarch nonsense that Astrid is involved in now?"

A quick explanation was graced with only a grunt, "So...little Astrid is now your...chief?"

Tyr nodded, "That's one way of putting it."

"And this Oath of Blades you spoke of? Is this...I don't know, mandatory? Is it a requirement?"

Tyr shook his head, "Not at all. The Oath is something anyone could elect to take. Physically taking it was the hard part."

Sharkshand scratched his beard, "So...will we have to try and keep Astrid alive on this ship while she does it? You showed the carvings on your neck, so I can only assume you are capable of doing this."

Tyr turned on the railing, "This is something that I need to speak to Astrid about personally. Technically speaking, we could do it here, today, right now even. I'm pretty sure she would die before the first tenant is carved."

"That's not something either of us want, is it?" Sharkshand replied, one eyebrow cocked. After Tyr's explanation, it appeared that Sharkshand was convinced that he wasn't a threat to her.

"Nope. We most certainly do not want that."

"Tyr!" Called a panting Ruffnut.

He immediately sensed something wrong. Ruffnut rarely ran. "What is it, Ruff? Did Fishlegs start bleeding again?"

She shook her head, "No, he's fine. It's Astrid; she want's to see you in her room. Seemed urgent when she asked me to find you."

Tyr hopped off the railing and started to the galley door. He took a few steps before turning around, "Sharkshand, don't worry about earlier. Really, it's nothing." He called before turning around and descending into the galley. He really didn't feel any animosity towards the man. None at all. It was a rather new experience actually.

Being scared for your life. Felt good after almost ten years of nigh invincibility. Soram never let him even off the ships if he thought Tyr would be irreparably hurt.

When he turned down the hall that led to Astrid's room, he found an interesting sight. Astrid was leaning on the wall just outside, looking...for lack of a better term, irked.

He flicked his eyes around, making sure there was nobody else around. "Something bothering you, Mother?" He asked softly as he approached. Astrid had asked him that, if he insisted on calling her that, he do it when they are alone or at least not around the other crew members.

Her ice blue eyes met his silver, "Well, I'm not sure if I should be bothered or happy. Mom asked about me being the Matriarch. I told her...and her reaction was not what I expected."

Tyr's stomach lurched. Not what she expected? Never mind that, what _did_ she expect her mother to think?

"Should I be making myself scarce?" He asked, a slight hint of concern in his voice. His eyes dashed around, like Ingrid would come flying through the walls at him. A scary thought, _and_ entirely possible. A vengeful mother was a force to be reckoned with. And run away from.

She shook her head. He sighed in relief, wiping a hand across his brow. He leaned against the wall right across from Astrid and maintained a calm silence.

"Tyr."

"Yes?"

"What happened to your hair?" Oh. That.

"I sort of cut it off in a fit of anger because your boy toy wouldn't listen to me when I said the Oath was dangerous." He replied sheepishly. Not his most composed moment.

She rolled her eyes, "Your family ever tell you that you are _way_ too impulsive?"

He grinned, "Every day. It's what makes me such awesome company."

"Keep telling yourself that." She replied, an eyebrow cocked.

"I will." He answered, his grin not fading from his face. Yep. He was so damn impulsive, but everyone on that ship would be dead if he wasn't. Shit, he would be dead if he wasn't.

"So...what was your moms reaction to the story?"

"She wants to talk to you."

He gave a start, "Wait, I thought the reaction was not what you expected?" He cried. It was her turn to grin.

"I never said what my expectation was. I expected her to understand, even just a little bit. She only said that she wants to talk with you. I would be ready to run though."

Tyr gave her a wince, "Is it really that bad?" He asked. The answer scared him.

"Tyr, she was ready to kill you over the _idea_ that you hurt a single blonde hair on my head. You...well, you put your own blood in me. She must be just _thrilled. _That, and you told them that I want to take the Oath. I can't imagine why she would be mad."

He groaned and put his face in his hands. Dealing with this was becoming a giant pain.

"Astrid, I feel that I should make you aware of the...technicalities."

Her eyes got wide, "Technicalities? Technicalities of what, exactly?"

"The technicalities of taking an Oath. It's not like you can just say 'Hey, I wanna do something fucking crazy, lets take the Oath'. Not any more, anyway."

As they spoke, someone ran up. It was an older teenaged boy who looked like he had been running frantically.

"Mistress Astrid! Captain Kagg Stromson asks that you attend him at the guard house. I was told to escort you."

She nodded at the boy, "Alright. We'll meet you on the deck." The boy nodded and walked off. Astrid watched him until he was out of sight.

She cracked open the door of her bedroom for a moment before easing it shut again, "Hiccup is still sleeping. Come on, you're going to fill me in on these technicalities on the way."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Not to be, er...inappropriate, but shouldn't you be spending time with Hiccup right about ten minutes ago?"

She gave him a sharp glare, "Why do you say that?"

He scoffed, "Mother! You've been away from him for days, you almost died, you almost broke up, _and_ he almost watched your mom skewer me."

She turned to walk away, "He'll live, we have impor-" Tyr grabbed her hand and spun her around to face him. This wasn't some joke to him.

"Go spend time with him. Now."

"He's sleepin-"

"Wake him up. I guarantee you that he won't care if it's you waking him." Tyr said, his tone broaching no question. Technically speaking, Astrid could have told him no and there would be nothing he could do about it, but he knew better. She wanted to spend time with him, but she just needed a push.

"I'll go talk to Stromson." He reassured her as he walked away.

"Tyr." She called softly. He turned around and fixed his silver eyes on her. She checked the room and the hallway each way.  
"Be careful, my son."

He smiled as he turned and walked off.

XXX

Hiccup was in a deep sleep when he was shaken lightly. His eyes eased open and he found himself staring into Astrid's icy eyes.

"Hey there, sleepy." She said, smiling at him.

"Hey beautiful." He answered before sitting up. She had slid in next to him under the furs, he hair was still braided, but it was a but unruly.

"Hiccup...I'm sorry. For everything that I did. I know it wasn't your fault that I got caught by Lakka and those goons."

He laughed, "What? It is my fault. Never would have happened if you had Azure at your side."

She reached over and took his face in her hands, "Don't be like that. You've taken fault for next to everything for years. Let someone else take the fall for once."

He covered her hand with his on his cheek, "I don't like letting others take the fall...makes me feel selfish."

She kissed him softly, "Hiccup, you're never selfish. Ever." Her face changed to concern as his smile turned into a wolfish grin.

"Oh, I can be selfish." He said haughtily before pulling her into a passionate kiss. He had been without her kiss for much too long, and he was hungry.

Astrid was surprised at first but soon warmed up and deepened the kiss. She felt his tongue lick across her lips several times before she opened and allowed him entrance. She wanted to play coy with him, but her body betrayed her as an unconscious moan escaped her.

The feeling of his tongue exploring her mouth was exciting her, and she quickly felt her blood begin to rush. Her body began burn with desire as his mouth strayed from hers and latched onto her neck. He bit her lightly every few moments, and she knew she would need to get rid of the marks he was no doubt leaving her.

His mouth traveled to her ear lobe, licking, sucking and biting. The sensations were driving her mad.

"I'll show you how selfish I can be." He whispered in her ear, before trapping her on the bed.

XXX

Tyr met the young boy on the deck of the ship, just as planned. The boy, however, didn't seem too thrilled to see just him and not Astrid as well.

"There a problem?" Tyr asked as he walked up. The boy jumped at the voice, even though he saw Tyr approach.

"Well, er...no. Where is Mistress Astrid?" He stuttered.

Tyr scratched his chin, "Busy. I'll go see you captain in her stead. Lead on." The boy looked unsure of himself as he cast one more glance at the galley portal. Finally, he set off down the deck to the docks with Tyr in tow.

Five minutes passed, and in this time Tyr watched the boy carefully as he walked. Each step appeared to be placed with care, but his knees betrayed him. They were shaking like a baby in a blizzard.

"What's your name?" Tyr asked. The boy looked downright terrified while he was walking, so Tyr thought he might need a bit of relaxing banter.

"I have no name..." Was his hushed answer. Tyr nearly tripped, "Eh!? Have no name? Don't play games now, what is it?"

The boy got an even more terrified look on his face, "Master says...Master says that I have no name..."

"Master? Who's that?"

"I...cannot say his name. I'm not worthy." The boy replied. He managed to keep walking, so they had actually arrived at the guard house already. To his utter annoyance, Tyr saw that Kagg Stromson himself, in all his arrogant glory, was standing outside waiting. He also saw that the captains face was a thundercloud.

"Boy! What is this foolishness!? I asked you to bring the beautiful Mistress Astrid before me, not this dog!" Kagg yelled before backhanding the boy to the ground.

"How many times must I strike you before you learn to do anything right!?" Stromson roared. The boy, fighting tears, scrambled to his knees.

"I'm sorry, Master! I promise you! I told her!" He cried, keeping his forehead on the ground. Kagg stepped forward, looking threateningly ready to stomp on the quivering form in front of him.

Before he could, Tyr stepped up, "It's true, Captain Stromson. Astrid is busy right now. I came instead to see what you wanted to speak with her about."

His eyes narrowed, "Excuse me?"

"I just knew that a man of your importance is very busy, so I would quickly come and get a message for Astrid." Tyr said, his face blank and his eyes dull. Obviously, Kagg didn't realize that Tyr was joking.

"Well, I'm glad somebody realizes my status." He said proudly before stomping back into the guard house. Tyr looked over at the still quivering boy and shook his head.

He stepped over to him, "We're going to have a little chat later, you and I." He said lightly before following the captain.

Inside the guard house, it was like a transformation from the other buildings in Metal Hook. While most places had the essential furniture and trimmings required, this place was like palace. The seats were upholstered in silk, the windows were curtained, and the mugs were solid silver.

"Does Murk know that you live like a king?" He asked as he looked around. Kagg sat down in one of the silken chairs, "Of course. I told you; Murk is chief, but I run this town. That badgering old idiot has no clue how to be a leader."

Tyr cocked an eyebrow, "Does being a leader mean beating innocent boys that you send on errands?"

Kagg scoffed, "Innocent boys? My my, even for a dog you can't seem to comprehend some things. They are servants. They have no such thing as innocence or freedom. They live to serve their master."

"And that would be you?"

"Correct. A leader must know that the common rabble is below him. Or her, in this matter." Kagg said, snapping at another boy in the room and holding up his mug. It was promptly filled with mead.

He took a gulp before holding it out to be topped off, "Very well, dog, I'll give you my message. As a leader, it is my job to put forth suitable heirs so that weakness isn't brought to the fore."

Tyr cocked his head to the side, "Meaning what?"

Kagg laughed, "So ignorant...meaning that I need woman to breed me strong sons. My cow of a wife has only bred me that pathetic daughter. I need a woman who will breed strength."

Tyr kept his face stony, but he was pretty sure he knew where this was going. This wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination.

"I will take Astrid into my home as my wife, and she will breed me strong sons to carry on the name Stromson. Go tell her that I will fetch her and her belongings in the morning."

Tyr resisted the urge to let his jaw fall off, "Uh...Captain Stromson, I believe you usually court a woman, then maybe..._ask_ her to marry you, then wait for her to...I don't know, maybe..._decide,_ to marry you. Isn't that the norm?"

The man laughed again, "For the commoners. I have no time for foolishness such as courting. Doesn't matter anyway. Woman scramble at the chance to carry my seed."

Tyr couldn't believe the ego of the man sitting in front of him. How did anyone deal with this guy, _ever? _How the fuck did he even get married in the first place?

"I'm sorry Captain, but Astrid has not declared herself ready for courtship, by the laws of Berk. She can't take a husband."

Kagg waved his hand, "Technicalities, dog. She can take my seed and get approval from your elders before the first child is born. Now go."

"She will want you to respect the laws first."

Kagg's face grew furious, "You ignorant fool! Woman are nothing more than vessels to carry on my name! Get your dirty feet out of this house and take the message back to the Mistress! Tomorrow morning I will be there, and you had better have delivered that message!"

Tyr walked out of the house with a grimace on his face. He was angry, but the low feeling in his stomach drowned out the anger. Stromson wanted Astrid. Permanently, and he didn't care about courting or anything like that, no. He assumed she would come like a cow to fresh pasture. The very comparison annoyed him and he shivered to think about Astrid as Stromson's...plaything.

Gross.

His steps got harder as his anger built. He had wanted to do something horrible to Kagg the day, the very fucking _moment_ they met.

He looked at the sun, high over the port. The next few days were going to present them some problems. More notably, one big problem.

He set off hurriedly back to the ship, fully intent on being there whenever Astrid finished spending time with Hiccup. However she was doing that didn't much matter, but he would waste no time when she came looking for him.

On the way, he stumbled upon old Marcais at a store. The white haired man was looking at a fabric stand while a girl, probably eighteen, carried a basket behind him. Marcais always seemed to be able to get someone else to carry his basket.

"Marcais!" Tyr called as he approached. His sharp eyes saw the girl stiffen and turn away, suddenly finding a stone wall incredibly interesting.

"Tyr! How are you today?" Marcais said jubilantly. Of all the Berkian's, Marcais was least affected by Tyr's earlier predicament, and even less surprised about Astrid being the new Matriarch and all that. Matter of fact, Marcais had been, generally, the most level headed of everyone.

"Good, but we've got problems."

The old man's back straightened and his eyes tightened, "Problems? Concerning what exactly?"

"You know that bastard, Stromson? He wants to-"

"Bastard? Stromson? This girl?" Marcais interrupted, pointing. Tyr turned and found himself face to face with the girl who was carrying Marcais' basket.

"And you are?" Tyr asked, none too politely.

"Mjoda Stromson. And who are you to be calling my father a bastard?" She hissed. Tyr eyed her icily before turning back to Marcais.

"Not her. Her father, Kagg is up to something. We need to go have a chat." He turned back to the Stromson girl, "In _private_."

She got an arrogant look in her eye. Yep, her fathers daughter alright, "Why so secretive, huh?"

Tyr gave her a sweet smile, "Can't have you running off to daddy now, can I?"

Her face twisted into a snarl, "My father will kill you if you ruin hi-"

"I would love to see him try, girl! It would just give me an excuse to snap his arrogant little neck!" Tyr said, low and threatening. He watched in satisfaction as a dormant fear slowly crept it's way into her eyes.

Unexpectedly, she slowly set the basket down, "I'm sorry, Mr. Judicieux, but I must get going. I have training soon." After the very official words, she turned and walked off with her head held high. Tyr diagnosed it as a show.

Her knees were shaking with each step.

"Look what you did, Tyr. Who is going to carry my basket now?" Marcais said, a indicative tone in his voice, before walking away. It meant that Tyr now had the honor of beast of burden.

Picking up the basket, Tyr set to following the old man, "Marcais, Kagg want's to marry...no not marry...he wants to _impregnate_ Astrid." Tyr couldn't bear putting the label of marriage on what Kagg wanted. Didn't seem fair to...well, nature itself.

Marcais was unfazed, "_Luxure perd toujours, _Tyr. Lust always loses. Kagg will never get what he wants. Besides, she has us. Put together her friends, her mother, Sharkshand, the dragons, you and her_. _If she doesn't want anything to do with Stromson, she will say so, and we can make it so."

Tyr scratched his head, "How will that work though, Marcais? Kagg has the whole guard division at his back. Technically speaking, the law is on his side."

Marcais awed at a carving of a boar, "Technically speaking, Tyr, Murk is the law. He just doesn't have anyone to uphold it. The Stromson hold on power here on Jumenjorg is much older than Murk's chiefdom, so he has no way of breaking it. If it came to that, Murk, and therefor the people, would side with us against Kagg."

Tyr was not relieved, "So you think it will come down to blows?"

"No. It might though. If Kagg is really as downright crazy as you say, then he will take a refusal as a personal insult. Now, a question...why did you come to me?" Marcais asked as he browsed through some fruits.

Tyr cursed under his breathe, "You calm me down. I'm all stressed out about Astrid, Marcais. The girl is on a path that nobody should tread, especially someone who is to be married."

Marcais suddenly turned away from his shopping and began to walk back towards the long ship, "Are you worried about Astrid, Tyr? Or where you have to go to satisfy her need to take the Oath?"

Marcais had a fundamental understanding of the Oath. He knew, in general, how things were supposed to go and how badly things could go if not done correctly.

"Well...more about Astrid than the other thing..."

"You mean the one thing that you have deemed so trivial that you haven't told her yet?" Marcais said. The old man possessed an ability to scold Tyr better than anyone. His voice was like a nail through Tyr's thick skull.

"It's not that I haven-" He started before Marcais' voice cut him again.

"You just forgot that part, right? Tyr, you have to tell her. Frankly, I'm not exactly sure why you haven't. It could convince her to not do this, and I believed that was what you wanted."

Tyr thought about it. Technically speaking, Astrid might not do it because of _where_ she has to do it. On the other hand, technically speaking, if he didn't help her do this, he would be going against his Matriarch. He wouldn't do that.

"Ok, I'll tell her."

"Tell her what?"

Tyr sighed, "That she _must _go to Mount Houder to bless the Oath."

* * *

**So, did you enjoy it? I will be working as much as I can on the next chapter, but enjoy this and throw me some feedback! **


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